| Pacific - Silicon Chips And Surfboards, Coral Reefs And Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, And the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers
(2015)
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| Front Cover |
Book Details |
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| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Ocean and civilization; Pacific Ocean - Description and travel; Pacific Ocean - Geography; Pacific Ocean - History; Winchester, Simon - Travel |
| Publication Date |
2015 |
| Format |
Hardcover (9.4
mm)
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| Publisher |
Harper |
| Language |
English |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
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| Description |
| The New York Times best-selling author of The Men Who United the States traces the geological history of the Pacific Ocean to assess its relationship with humans and indelible role in the modern world. |
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| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
GC771 .W56 2015 |
| Dewey |
909/.09823 |
| ISBN |
9780062315410 |
| Edition |
[1st ed.] |
| Country |
USA |
| Cover Price |
$28.99 |
| No. of Pages |
492 |
| First Edition |
Yes |
| Rare |
No |
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| Notes/Review |
This is a set of eleven essays -ten chapters and an epilogue - anchored on events that took place after 1950 in the Pacific Ocean.
It's an interesting technique - every story has to start somewhere, and Winchester's selection of the specific events is generally pretty good. His essay on China's current naval strategy begins with the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The immediate effect of the eruption was the closure of the two large USA bases in the Philippines: Clark Field and Subic Bay. Almost immediately the Chinese increased their presence within their "nine dash line", leading to their current building of bases on small disputed islands in the South China Sea.
Winchester's chosen event isn't always a winner. In his surfing essay he uses the release of the film Gidget. The essay tells the entire history of surfing; I think he'd have been better served by starting with the sales of the first polyurethane surfboard.
The topics covered are diverse, as are the disciplines referenced. Nuclear testing, the USS Pueblo incident, the rise of Sony Corp., the discovery of life around deep sea vents. Geography, history, culture, geology, politics. |
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