Savage Island; An Account of a Sojourn in Niue and Tonga - Primary Source Edition

by Basil Thomson

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Memoir

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

Sir Basil Home Thomson, KCB (21 April 1861 – 26 March 1939) was a British intelligence officer, police officer, prison governor, colonial administrator, and writer.

abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Bruce Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long reigning queen has died in Britain, a lava island has sprung up in Tonga, and its coastal regions are devastated. No, this is not 2022, but 1901.
There are some cringeworthy moments, calling locals 'little people,' for example, but if you can tolerate a viewpoint from more than a century ago, then there is quite a bit to be learned about these islands from this short work.
I didn't realize how historically connected Niue and Tonga were. The author teases out some cultural differences between them, and, in fact, I wish had talked more about Tongan culture than he did. As it is, it is a short, and sometimes interesting read about places which rarely appear in the media. Unless, of course, an island pops up, a tsunami or cyclone hits.