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Winchester has outdone himself with Pacific. I enjoyed this even more than his many other works I have read, and I put that down to his clever selection of stories, and ability to weave complex situations into readable narrative.His prologue is excellent, and I have quoted various passages which explain aspects of this book. His Authors Note on carbon dating is also excellent for a simple explanation of the radio carbon dating of fossils and how nuclear testing has put a date limit on this. And
The Not Always Peaceful PacificSimon Winchester's book is a wealth of information on the history, culture, geography, and resources of the Pacific Ocean. From the nuclear-ization of the Marshalls at Bikini post WWII in what became the Pacific Proving Grounds, to the Chinese expansion into the South China Sea; he follows the change in flags across the Pacific's myriad islands. Pacific moves with ease and intelligence from the history of the pariah state of North Korea to impending war between Chi...
A pleasure read with surprising moral heft and geopolitical insight. Popular history at its finest.
I am glad I reread this book with GR Non Fiction Book Club. Winchester always finds deeper meaning through multi-field nonfiction perspectives as we approach an Asia-Pacific experience, including oceanography, meteorology, military and political history.Those of us who recognize and honor the Earth as a living being/organism may appreciate this information: The ridges of the eastern Pacific section of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge system, ridges are held together by a web of fibers which resemble stitch...
4 ☆Simon Winchester's Pacific delivered more than I had expected. The GR synopsis suggested that it would be reminiscent of an anthology loosely centered around the Pacific Ocean. But my primary takeaway from Pacific is of a modern history that sets the explanatory stage for current geopolitical tensions and potential future conflicts. And the stage is gargantuan with an estimated 64 million square miles or about one-third of the earth's entire surface, which swells to 45 percent if one only fac...
Simon Winchester has been on my radar for a while now. I love history, geography and science, so it was bound to happen eventually. By why did it take this long? On my last trip to my favourite bookstore in Sydney I noticed that his new book was out. Why not?Well I enjoyed this read immensely. Each chapter revolves around one theme of the Pacific. For example, the first chapter looks at nuclear testing in the Pacific and relates it to world politics at the time. Simon also uses this as a springb...
Simon Winchester takes pride in being a traveler. It was another traveler, the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who, in 1520, gave the largest body of water on our planet the name by which we have known it ever since. After surviving a trip through the straits (now called the Straits of Magellan) at the southern tip of South America, his ships sailed into a very welcome calm sea. He named it pacific, for peaceful. And it was, no doubt, quite calm in comparison to the somewhat livelier waters of the
Simon Winchester’s latest book, PACIFIC: SILICON CHIPS AND SURFBOARDS, CORAL REEFS AND ATOM BOMBS, BRUTAL DICTATORS, FADING EMPIRES, AND THE COMING COLLISION OF THE WORLD’S SUPERPOWERS reinforces why I am such a fan and admirer of this eclectic social scientist. No matter what topic Mr. Winchester takes on he has the uncanny ability to unwind what is a standard interpretation or history of a well-known topic and ferret out little known details to make something that is quite interesting, fascina...
Pacific is really a set of essays by the author about historical events and people centered around the Pacific Ocean. Winchester takes us on a chronological journey starting with the testing of a-bombs at the Bikini Atoll in the 40s and 50s and ending with the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, leaving the area defenseless at a time when China was wielding its strong arm of power. Along the way we learn about such things as the rise of Sony Corporation, the influence of surfing...
Mr. Winchester is amazing. His reading enthralls, as does the subject matter. He thoroughly covers countries, politics, ecology, & on & on, yet manages it elegantly.
I love well-researched but readable and accessible histories. This is one of them.Broken up into long-article length chapters (Winchester says this "structural vade mecum" was inspired by a book by Stefan Zweig, most recently translated with the title Shooting Stars. A "slender collection of ten ruminative essays...about what Zweig considered to be seminal moments in the tide of human experience.")Pacific is not slender but it is ruminative and I would agree that most of the 10 incidents Winches...
At first I thought I might give up on this book before finishing, but that was not the case. Author’s into was long and didn’t catch my attention at all, but once I got into the text, I was hooked. The atomic testing in the Pacific in the 50 is, I knew about, but I appreciated the detail. But it was here that I discovered Winchester’s sub-theme about the dignity of all persons. In the Fifties the tests hurt Pacific Islanders who were summarily moved from Bikini, Japanese fishermen who got radiat...
Absolutely fantastic. A wonder cabinet of fascinating material. I loved this author, and he has written a lot of books. Finding him feels like a present that will last me twenty years. I am thrilled to pieces!
A fascinating topic, but, given its scope, lacking in the fine detail of his studies of say Krakatoa or the strange relationship around the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary between Scottish Oxford lexicographer Sir James Murray and insane ex-patriate American Army surgeon Dr. W. C. Minor. While I applaud Winchester's decision to follow Stefan Zweig's lead from The Tide of Fortune: Twelve Historical Miniatures (1940), and tell his story through a series of singularly focused snapshots, w...