Broken Waves: A History of the Fiji Islands in the Twentieth Century

Pacific Islands Monograph Series

by Brij V. Lal

"[A] magisterial history of twentieth-century Fiji.... The historical research is thorough and scrupulous, and the presentation is lucid. Lal brings together a wealth of information, much of it previously unavailable and the earlier available materials often reframed in thought-provoking ways.... Perhaps its greatest strength is that is presents the history of modern Fiji as very complicated and multifaceted." --The Contemporary Pacific
Pacific Islands Monograph Series No.11
Published in association with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i

Genres: History, Nonfiction

424 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1992

About the author

Brij V. Lal AM, FAHA is an Indo-Fijian historian. He was born in Labasa, on the northern island of Vanua Levu. He was educated at the University of the South Pacific, the University of British Columbia and the Australian National University. A harsh critic of the Bainimarama government, which originated in the military coup of 2006 and retained power in the 2014 elections, he is currently living in exile in Australia.

"I am currently working on a large scale project about Australia's engagement with the South Pacific from the 1940s to the 1980s, focusing on the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu. My research on Fiji continues with a historical dictionary and a general interpretative volume for the University of Hawaii currently in preparation, along with a series of essays on the politics and culture of the Indian indentured diaspora. On the side, I continue to wrestle with the problems of writing about societies with unwritten pasts."

Reviews

[AskHistorians]

A survey history of modern Fiji by a prominent Indo-Fijian scholar that attempts to come to terms with the complex world of race, nation, politics and colonialism on contemporary Fiji.

[Xander Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though a little dated, it’s a really detailed look at the history and politics of Fiji in the 20th century, which I had very little knowledge of to begin with.

In my quest to learn about other countries in the world, Fiji came up on my radar and this was the book I found to help introduce the history of modern Fiji, and boy is the country troubled, at least into the early 90s. Codified racism, Indo-Fijian discrimination that has existed for ages, and a reliance on loyalty to elders that goes against many modern Fijian political wishes in terms of representation and equitable rights, the military coups of the 80s really turned a burgeoning democratic, post-colonial island nation into more of an ethnic battleground where only Fijian natives(mixed races excluded) can be represented and supported constitutionally is a very odd turn of events.

I’ll need to update myself in modern 21st century Fiji to see if the ramifications and predictions of the author are fruitful.

[Val]

This was extremely interesting, but the combo of it being a little dry for me and having it on an ILL meant that I didn't get to finish it. I feel like I learned a lot though, and now I'm more interested in Fiji and the effects colonization has/had on Pacific Islands!

[Cynthia K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selected for task # 8 of the 2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: An #ownvoices book set in Oceania.