fourtriplezed 's Reviews > Pacific: The Ocean of the Future

It is hard not to enjoy the popular history and travels that Simon Winchester writes. At his best he is a page turner. Pacific at its best is that. It was also not what I expected as I grabbed my copy a few days prior to heading to the tropical beaches of Fiji with the thought that I was reading an entire history of the ocean itself. That will teach me to not read up on what I am about to read.

In the end we have a book that consists of almost essay like vignettes of various events that have happened in the Pacific since the 1950's with the majority of them seemingly in the major countries that surround the Ocean itself. Most are very interesting in themselves and for someone who has lived a few and in close proximity they brought back memories. But one can learn things. The destruction of The Queen Elizabeth for example. More news of the day at the time but I did find its sad history and demise an interesting read all these years later. The Whitlam dismissal was also one that had the memory banks ticking over to my youth. A couple of chapters that covered the natural world left me reading long into the night.

Yep! a nice read all-round.