{"product_id":"sea-people-the-puzzle-of-polynesia-9780062060877","title":"Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of Jared Diamond's \u003cem\u003eGuns, Germs, and Steel\u003c\/em\u003e and Simon Winchester's \u003cem\u003ePacific\u003c\/em\u003e, a thrilling intellectual detective story that looks deep into the past to uncover who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific, where they came from, how they got there, and how we know. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than a millennium, Polynesians have occupied the remotest islands in the Pacific Ocean, a vast triangle stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. Until the arrival of European explorers they were the only people to have ever lived there. Both the most closely related and the most widely dispersed people in the world before the era of mass migration, Polynesians can trace their roots to a group of epic voyagers who ventured out into the unknown in one of the greatest adventures in human history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow did the earliest Polynesians find and colonize these far-flung islands? How did a people without writing or metal tools conquer the largest ocean in the world? This conundrum, which came to be known as the Problem of Polynesian Origins, emerged in the eighteenth century as one of the great geographical mysteries of mankind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor Christina Thompson, this mystery is personal: her Maori husband and their sons descend directly from these ancient navigators. In \u003cem\u003eSea People\u003c\/em\u003e, Thompson explores the fascinating story of these ancestors, as well as those of the many sailors, linguists, archaeologists, folklorists, biologists, and geographers who have puzzled over this history for three hundred years. A masterful mix of history, geography, anthropology, and the science of navigation, Sea People combines the thrill of exploration with the drama of discovery in a vivid tour of one of the most captivating regions in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSea People\u003c\/em\u003e includes an 8-page photo insert, illustrations throughout, and 2 endpaper maps.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThompson, Christina:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChristina Thompson\u003c\/strong\u003e is the editor of \u003cem\u003eHarvard Review \u003c\/em\u003eand the author of \u003cem\u003eCome On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story, \u003c\/em\u003ewhich was shortlisted for the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-fiction and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Her essays and criticism have appeared in numerous publications, including \u003cem\u003eVogue\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eAmerican Scholar, \u003c\/em\u003ethe\u003cem\u003e Journal of Pacific History, \u003c\/em\u003eand three editions of \u003cem\u003eBest Australian Essays\u003c\/em\u003e. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, a Writer's Grant from the Australia Council, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award. A dual citizen of the US and Australia, she lives outside of Boston with her family.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613542060306,"sku":"9780062060877","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d6bd81b2-8208-410d-b0c9-0c98721eb632.jpg?v=1732406650","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/sea-people-the-puzzle-of-polynesia-9780062060877","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}