Vikings of the Sunrise

by Peter Henry Buck

This work is an attempt to make known to the general public some of the romance associated with the settlement of Polynesia by a stone-age people who deserve to rank among the world's great navigators. The author uses tales from Polynesian myths regarding the creation of man and of the islands.

Genres: History

339 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1959

About the author

Te Rangi Hīroa, also known as Sir Peter Henry Buck.

He was a doctor, military leader, health administrator, politician, anthropologist and museum director.

Reviews

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many perks to having access to a university library. They dug a copy of this book out of their vault for me. This is a neat record of Polynesian people from a Maori doctor - turned - anthropologist, from about a century ago. There is a cool illustration of an octopus and all of its tentacles extend out to the different island groups, with French Polynesia at the head. I chased this book down from an article I read which talked about how the Polynesian people had sustained contact with Andean people and evidence for that was found in genes, and also potatoes and chickens.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive review of customs and origin stories from most of the island communities.