Author Talk: Andrew Crowe - Pathway of the Birds

Unity Books Wellington and Bateman Books warmly invite you to hear an interview with Andrew Crowe about his award-winning book, Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and their Polynesian Ancestors. All welcome.

About the Book:

Winner for Non-Fiction – NZ Heritage Book Awards 2019
Winner for Text or Reference and Illustration/Photography – Ka Palapala Po’okela Awards 2019
Storylines Notable Book Award 2019
Top Ten Non-Fiction for 2018 – Auckland Libraries
Top Reads of 2018 – Weekend Herald

‘A highly readable and lucid account of the early Polynesians’ epic saga… will appeal to both the general reader and the specialist.’ – New Zealand Listener

‘Succeeds in bridging the gap between academic researchers and the general audience.’ – Journal of the Polynesian Society June 2019

‘The book is very well written and illustrated, and is comprehensively referenced… I highly recommend [it] for its readability and presentation while offering an informed account of how Polynesians in double-hulled canoes voyaged over vast distances of the Pacific Ocean from small island to small island, carrying with them the materials required for successful settlement.’ – International Journal of Maritime History

‘A veritable mine of information about the environments and resources of ancient Polynesia. It stands as an excellent addition to earlier books on Polynesian navigation by authors such as David Lewis and Geoffrey Irwin.’ – Journal of Anthropological Research

“Andrew Crowe has produced a masterful synthesis of the remarkable voyaging history of the Polynesians.” Prof Patrick V. Kirch, Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus and Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California at Berkeley.

This book casts light on a neglected epoch of world history, one that saw Polynesians expand their territory across the world’s largest ocean. Author Andrew Crowe has been collecting the research of a wide range of specialists for many years, assembling it as if the individual findings were pieces of one enormous jigsaw. From this broad focus has come a deep admiration for the skills, resourcefulness and courage of the people that drove this extraordinary feat of maritime exploration.