Book Description

This is a substantial and exciting new travel book by one of Canada's most accomplished writers. South Sea Journey describes an extensive trip George Woodcock and his wife have made through the far--flung archipelagoes of the south seas, a trip undertaken primarily to make a documentary series for CBCTelevision. The area encompasses the romantic and remote islands of the South Pacific -- Samoa, Tongs, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji. They are for the most part hard to get to, not very much touristed, extraordinarily beautiful, and in many instances in great political disarray. George Woodcock's style as a travel writer is both personal and highly informative. He is, while describing his travels, able to provide sound background history for the whole area. He gives exceptionally well--informed interpretations of the current political and social conditions of the islands, based on interviews with people at all levels of society from the king of Tonga down. A consistently appealing feature of the writing is George Woodcock's own personality -- humane, sympathetic, and often amusing. The result is at once an engrossing travel book and a valuable informative survey of this exotic area of the world. George Woodcock's versatility and productivity have made him a living legend among Canadian writers. He is author or editor of more than forty books, including volumes of poetry and criticism, books of travel and history about several parts of the world (most recently Who Killed the British Empire?), and important biographical studies of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Herbert Read, Gabriel Dumont and others. He has written extensively about Canadian history and literature and is the founder and editor of the journal Canadian Literature.