Encountering the Pacific in the Age of Enlightenment by John Gascoigne

JUDGES' COMMENTS

This is a book of great scope and erudition. Mapping the Pacific expansion of Europeans and their encounters with the peoples of the Pacific, it covers the period from their first explorations through to the early nineteenth century. Encountering the Pacific in the Age of Enlightenment covers a wide range of topics: exploration, wealth, knowledge, encounters and beliefs. It also deals with relations between Europeans and a wide range of Pacific peoples and, comprehensively, with the Pacific experiences of major European countries.

John Gascoigne develops a complex and original set of arguments about the transcultural relations between Europeans and Pacific peoples through using a wide range of printed and manuscript materials from libraries and archives across Europe. This has allowed him to explore how differing European religions, systems of government and cultural values shaped their policies, attitudes towards and treatment of Pacific peoples.

A great achievement of this book is that it demonstrates that the cultural interactions between Europeans and Pacific peoples were complex and always changing. The impact went both ways and Pacific peoples were not simply the passive recipients of European culture but were also agents of their own destiny, creating a set of Creole cultures in the process. This is a book that challenges our understandings not only of Pacific history and the history of the Enlightenment in Europe but also the nature of relations between the colonisers and the colonised.