The Fatal Impact: The Invasion of the South Pacific, 1767-1840

Just finished this book last night, and it is a really excellent read with some very thoughtful insight even 55 years after first being published. Highly recommended for fans of history, the sea exploration era, and the clash of European with native cultures. I'm looking forward to reading more Alan Moorehead. This was my first one.

An absolute classic. No praise can do justice. Suffice to say, if you're here, you'll buy this book. It's just sad that so few people have even heard of anything written by Alan Moorehead apart from the two books on the White and Blue Nile.

This 1966 book coined a term that still is used to describe disastrous impacts of more powerful cultures on weaker ones. Moorehead describes the effects of initial European contacts with Tahiti, Australia, and the Antarctic, giving special attention to the voyages of Captain Cook. Early British contacts with the Tahitians are described in fascinating detail. Cook perceived that Western impact on Tahiti would have serious negative effects, writing that it would have been better for the Tahitians if the British had never visited the island. In his description of the initial British colonization of Australia, Moorehead focuses on the mistreatment of the aborigines, including the complete elimination of native Tasmanians from their homeland. Most of the section on the Antarctic is about Cook's determined attempts to reach the continent with his ships. Cook's descriptions of abundant sea life around Antarctica had the unintended effect of provoking whalers and sealers to decimate many species. Well written, this book is a chastening read.

This is a worthwhile read. It details the effect of European expansion on Pacific cultures, and the southern hemisphere in general. It is divided into three parts-1) Tahiti, which chronicles the successive voyages of Captain Cook and later explorers, and their effects on the supposed 'Noble Savage' existance (not altogether noble when Captain Cook attended a human sacrifice, for example). A detailed discussion is made of the way of life of the Tahitians before the arrival of Europeans, which is revealing and refreshing. It wasn't altogether noble, but there were many aspects of societal and family arrangements, which was envied by the Europeans.2) Australia, and the effect on the aborigines-especially the Tasmanians. A good discussion is made of aboriginal culture here also, and finally 3) the Antarctic, and the effect Cooks' search for the elusive southern continent had on the abundance of whales and wildlife which he saw, decimated from 1790 onwards. The title sums it up-the effects of exploration and expansion was devastating. Introduced diseases, misguided missionaries, imposition of inappropriate culture, alcohol-without the attendant level of acquired tolerance, one-sided treaties, indiscriminate slaughter of wildlife such as whales and seals, and so on. Painters such as Ganguin try to capture the loss of spirit of the Tahitians for example, after having their life and culture withered away, and the arguments for and against the 'noble savage' existance are revealing. This was the time of Rouseau, Diderot, and the French Revolution, and there were many myths propagated in Europe about the southern seas. Island paradise, or voyage of the damned?It is *very well written*, balanced and refreshing-something often lacking in similar texts. (Never under-estimate what a good writer can do with a good story, and what a bad writer can do to a good story). Also, the best edition is definitely the illustrated version-with a number of paintings from Ganguin and others, and original sketches from those who travelled on the voyages of exploration themselves etc-these add much to the text, and it is recommended one search around to get the colour illustrated edition. It is suprisingly and refreshingly good.

They say that history is written by the victor. While this may have been the case years ago, before the advent of electronic and paper printing, it is interesting to note that often small jewels of history can still be found hidden in the sands of time. This is such a book. You may have read the bestseller, "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. While this book is dedicated to Alan Moorehead's "The Fatal Impact", it is a rather overblown attempt to take off from where Moorehead left off. Moorehead, unlike Hughes, is succinct and straight to the point, describing in a paragraph what might take Hughes pages to deploy. But Moorehead goes further by re-writing history with some of the most beautiful and descriptive language ever displayed in word, especially his lyrical but simple descriptions of the Australian 'bush' before the advent of the white man.Unlike many historical essays, Mooreheads style is to grab and swallow us; it takes and immerses us in our own past, and it is frightening. This book is a true account of the effect of the white invasion of the South pacific. Though often sad, it is devoid of token sentimentality. It is books such as these that keep our history grounded and firmly established in truth, and not the often repeated propoganda that is a common style for Western academia to employ and justfiy our own convoluted history...

A magnificent short book which places the reader on the deck of Endeavor and the Resolution during Cook's first two voyages of discovery in the Pacific. An easy read, yet a scholarly study of the consequences of Western contact in Tahiti, Australia and the Antarctic. One of Moorhead's central themes in the book is the Noble Savage, "happy, healthy, beautiful people whose every want was supplied by the tropical forest, and who, best of all, knew nothing of the cramping sophostries of civilization." Cook brought back evidence that the noble savage indeed existed, and writers such as Boswell, Diederot and Rousseau used it to argue that life in Europe during the late 18th century had evolved into something less than desirable. It is ironic that, despite the high purpose of Cook's voyages of discovery and the pleas of those who recognized the validity and desirability of life in Tahiti or on the barren lands of Australia, the voyages touched off a frenzy by religious zealots and profiteers. A half century after Cook had opened Tahiti to the rest of the world, Gaugin sees shadows of something so beautiful that it still moves him to create his paintings; "The overwhelming physical beauty of the woman remains, but she does not dance. Instead, she lies inert and naked on her bed ... waiting for nothing, hoping for nothing, the petals of the tiare Tahiti scattered about her, a dark, conspiratorial couple in the background and all around them the mystical shapes and symbols of the Tropics. On this one canvas the painter has written in English the one word, "Nevermore."