What were the stand out historical points about Vanuatu?
Britain and France loosely ruled jointly over the archipelago. Result: slowgress.
Customs were maintained but were melded into various religions.
A huge death toll to diseases brought by Europeans. Many missionaries, early settlers and merchants were killed. Many locals were mistreated at plantations. Justice was in favour of the oppressors. Discussions were sorted out with violence when discussions failed.
The book was the first publication on Ni-Vanuatu history. The British author hoped the locals would take this as a starting point and explore their own history. The competing interests were hard to follow as the narrative lacked any weaving between factions, rather each section was segmented by time period or plain fact.