Islands in a Far Sea: The Fate of Nature in Hawaii, Revised Edition (Latitude 20 Books

by John L. Culliney

First published in 1988, Islands in a Far Sea offers a comprehensive environmental history of Hawai‘i. This thoroughly revised edition begins with an up-to-date account of the geological formation and shaping of the Islands, their colonization by plants and animals, and the patterns of ecology and evolution that unfolded in nurturing seas and on breath-taking landscapes.

This book tells the story of human interaction with Hawai‘i's native landscapes and rich biological heritage. The author’s accessible language allows readers to grasp basic geological and biological principles and to understand the perhaps surprising vulnerability of Hawaiian ecosystems--which have coevolved with volcanoes--to human impact. Islands in a Far Sea includes many well-documented historical examples of such impacts, featuring growth and greed, fears and foibles as humans confronted endemic nature in Hawai‘i. Citing a large array of sources, the author makes it possible for interested readers to probe more deeply the changes in natural systems that have ensued on all of the Hawaiian Islands. To date the result has been the tragic reduction of a unique and benign biota. However, the book holds out hope that current efforts to protect what is left of Hawai‘i's flora and fauna in their remaining wild settings may yet succeed.

432 pages, Hardcover

First published December 3, 1988

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an informative, passionate, and beautifully written account of Hawaiian natural history that extends from the birth of the islands millions of years ago to the present. This is a rich book that takes slow reading. Having some field guides at hand helps with appreciating the plants and animals whose descriptions pack the book. Sohmer and Gustafson's Plants and Flowers of Hawaii, the Audubon Birds of Haiwaii, and the amazing photos in Littschwager and Middleston's Remains of a Rainbow were useful and inspiring to me.

Culliney's prose is evocative on its own though:
"What must an ancient Hawaiian coastline have looked like after a winter and spring of abundant rain, with wiliwili and interspersed cotton trees flaring into bloom amid loulu and kanaloa? What lost fragrances were carried on the trade winds to the nostrils of canoe paddlers approaching from leeward? What vanished birds lived in those coastal forests and sang above the rush of wind and crash of surf?"

Beyond mourning lost wonders, this book is fiercely and pragmatically engaged with how to rescue what remains.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biogeography at its best. A rich resource of information for the Hawaiian archipelago. Can be used as a case study for tropical, volcanic island evolution.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written about how the Hawaiian Island chain was formed along with all of plants and creatures and how they got there.