Book reviews

Peter Edwards with Gregory Pemberton. Crises and Commitments: The Politics and Diplomacy of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1965. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1992. xix + 515 pp. $45.00.

J.D.B. Miller and RJ. Vincent (eds). Order and Violence: Hedley Bull and International Relations. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. vii + 220 pp. $55.00.

Carl Bridge (ed.). Munich to Vietnam. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1991. 237 pp. $24.95.

Gary Brown. Breaking the American Alliance. Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No.54, 1989. 171pp. $17.00.

G. Withers (ed.). Commonality and Difference: Australia and the United States. Australian Fulbright Papers No.1. Sydney: Allen & Unwin for the Australian‐American Educational Foundation, 1991. 138 pp. $19.95.

John S. Gibson. International Organizations, Constitutional Law and Human Rights. New York: Praeger, 1991. xvii + 265 pp. $US45.00.

J. Ronald Engel and Joan Gibb Engel (eds). Ethics of Environment and Development: Global Challenge and International Response. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, in association with the IUCN, 1990. xv + 264 pp. $US29.95 (cloth), $US14.95 (paper).

Stephen Ryan. Ethnic Conflict and International Relations. Aldershot: Dartmouth Publishing, 1991. xxviii + 200 pp. No price given.

K.M. de Silva and R.J. May (eds). Internationalization of Ethnic Conflicts. London: Pinter Publishers for International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka, 1991. x + 272 pp. $84.25.

Robert C.R. Siekmann. National Contingents in United Nations Peace‐Keeping Forces. Doedrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 1991. xv + 229 pp. $US82.00.

Mara R. Bustelo and Philip Alston (eds). Whose New World Order? What Role for the United Nations? Leichhardt: The Federation Press, 1991. xiv + 157 pp. No price given.

H. Brauch and R. Kennedy (eds). Alternative Conventional Defense Postures in the European Theater: The Impact of Political Change on Strategy, Technology, and Arms Control. New York: Crane Russak; Basingstoke: Taylor and Francis, 1992. xxi + 279 pp. £35.00.

Robert F. Miller (ed.). The Development of Civil Society in Communist Systems. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1992. iv + 187 pp. $19.95.

David W. Hunter. Western Trade Pressure on the Soviet Union. An Interdependence Perspective on Sanctions. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1991. xii + 163 pp. £40.00.

Paul Hainsworth (ed.). Breaking and Preserving the Mould: The Third Direct Elections to the European Parliament (1989) — the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. Belfast and Coleraine: Policy Research Institute, The Queen's University of Belfast and the University of Ulster, 1992. v + 223pp. £9.95.

Yue‐man Yeung and Xu‐wei Hu (eds). China's Coastal Cities: Catalysts of Modernization. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992. xvi + 330 pp. $US38.00 (cloth).

Freedom in Exile. The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Cardinal Books, 1991. 308 pp.

Vo Nhan Tri. Vietnam's Economic Policy Since 1975. Singapore: Institute of South East Asian Studies, 1990. xi + 253 pp. $S42.50 (cloth), $S32.00 (paper).

Robert Hopkins Miller. The United States and Vietnam 1787–1941. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 1990. ix + 234 pp. No price given.

Judith A. Stowe. Siam Becomes Thailand: A Story of Intrigue. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. xii + 394 pp. $US39.00 (cloth), $US16.95 (paper).

Salim Said. Genesis of Power. General Sudirman and the Indonesian Military in Politics 1945–49. North Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1992. xxi + 185 pp. $24.95.

Burhan Magenda. East Kalimantan: The Decline of a Commercial Aristocracy. Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Cornell University, 1991. viii + 113 pp. $US11.00.

Khong Kim Hoong. Malaysia's General Election 1990: Continuity, Change and Ethnic Politics. Singapore: ISEAS, 1991. 54 pp. $US5.00.

Stephanie Lawson. The Failure of Democratic Politics in Fiji. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. vii + 307 pp. $90.00.

Asesela Ravuvu. The Facade of Democracy: Fijian Struggles for Political Control 1830–1987. Suva: Reader Publishing House, 1991. xii + 106 pp. $15.00.

William Sutherland. Beyond the Politics of Race. An Alternative History of Fiji to 1992. Political and Social Change Monograph No.15, Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, 1992. vii + 251 pp. $16.00.

Sue Rabbitt Roff. Overreaching in Paradise: United States Policy in Palau since 1945. Juneau, Alaska: The Denali Press, 1991. ix + 245 pp. No price given.

Gary Smith. Micronesia: Decolonisation and US Military Interests in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Canberra: Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1991. ix + 131 pp. $12.00.

Robert Aldrich (ed.). France, Oceania and Australia: Past and Present. Department of Economic History, University of Sydney, 1991. 203 pp. No price given.

Stephen Henningham. France and the South Pacific; A Contemporary History. Sydney: Allen and Unwin,1992. xvii + 292 pp. $24.95.

R. Briscoe, G.S. Nair and A. Sibbald. Enterprise Support Organizations for the South Pacific: Problems and Proposals. Honolulu: Pacific Islands Development Program, East‐West Center, 1991. xi + 89 pp. $US8.00.

Euan Fleming and Hugh Coulter (eds). Agricultural Export Marketing in the South Pacific: The Future Role of Marketing Authorities. Canberra: National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University, Pacific Policy Paper 8, 1992. xii + 255 pp. $25.00.

M. Thea Sinclair and M.J. Stabler (eds). The Tourism Industry: An International Analysis. Wallingford: C.A.B. International, 1991. xi + 244 pp. £30.00.

D. Harrison (ed.). Tourism and the Less Developed Countries. London: Belhaven Press, 1992. xiii + 186 pp. £35.00.     

Environmental response to land use at Lake Curlip,East Gippsland,Victoria

A palaeoecological approach was undertaken to investigate the last 400 years of change in vegetation, fire, nutrient mobility, lake productivity and erosion associated with Aboriginal and European land-use practices in a forested environment in eastern Victoria. Melaleuca ericifolia scrub, although present prior to European settlement, has expanded around Lake Curlip in the last 200 years, primarily due to the action of fire on a forest already weakened by drought. A fern understorey has declined in extent and a more open aspect has developed in the forest. Fire has been a major component of vegetation dynamics in the historical period. Erosion rates were comparatively low and associated with fire during prehistoric times, but after European settlement its increase is more closely related to land clearance and flooding than fire. The response of vegetation to both anthropogenic and natural influences changed during the historical period. Although fire is an integral part of vegetation change, it is not an over-riding effect at Lake Curlip. Drain construction in the swamp has reduced the impact that any accumulation of pasture improvement chemicals may have had on eutrophication of the lake.     

The Analysis of Spatial Association by Use of Distance Statistics

Introduced in this paper is a family of statistics, G, that can be used as a measure of spatial association in a number of circumstances. The basic statistic is derived, its properties are identified, and its advantages explained. Several of the G statistics make it possible to evaluate the spatial association of a variable within a specified distance of a single point. A comparison is made between a general G statistic and Moran's I for similar hypothetical and empirical conditions. The empirical work includes studies of sudden infant death syndrome by county in North Carolina and dwelling unit prices in metropolitan San Diego by zip-code districts. Results indicate that G statistics should be used in conjunction with I in order to identify characteristics of patterns not revealed by the I statistic alone and, specifically, the G_i and G_i* statistics enable us to detect local “pockets” of dependence that may not show up when using global statistics.     

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease from first description to genetic localization of mutations

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy first described in 1886. Our increasing knowledge of this disease correlates well with the development of methods used in neurology over the past 100 years. Although its physiopathology and treatment is still not fully understood, current developments in techniques are opening the way to future discoveries. We have divided its history into three theoretical periods: the first from 1886 to 1956, which was devoted to clinical and pathological study of the disease; the second from 1956 to 1982, which saw the development of electromyography in the investigation of neuromuscular diseases; and the last and current period based upon genetic research, using the methods of molecular biology.     

Neutron activation analysis of stone from the Chadron Formation and a Clovis Site on the Great Plains

Cryptocrystalline silicates from the Chadron Formation were widely used by prehistoric human groups in the Great Plains of North America. There are two documented quarry areas: Flattop Butte in Colorado and the White River Badlands of South Dakota. Cryptocrystalline silicates from these sources are visually indistinguishable, making it difficult to determine the sources of artefacts found at archaeological sites. In this investigation, neutron activation analysis is used to distinguish the two sources. This technique also identifies lithic material from the Clovis-age Eckles site in Kansas as being from Flattop Butte.     

ANALYSE ET CARTOGRAPHIE DES DOMMAGES DU SÉISME SURVENU AU QUÉBEC LE 25 NOVEMBRE 1988

Dans le cadre d'un projet de recherche en cours portant sur l'évaluation de la vulnérabilité municipale aux catastrophes naturelles (Boivin 1990), un examen des dommages du séisme du 25 novembre 1988 a été mené afin de mieux documenter l'analyse du risque séismique au Québec. À partir de sources variées de rapports de dommages mais, plus spécifiquement, par l'étude des demandes liées au programme de dédommagement mis sur pied par le gouvernement du Québec, une analyse et une cartographie des dommages rapportés est fournie. Les résultats montrent que la majorité des dommages sont concentrés près de l'épicentre dans les régions du Saguenay/Lac Saint-Jean et de Québec. Les dégats répertoriés concernent principalement les ouvertures (portes et (enê tres) avec 11%, les murs intérieurs ou extérieurs (29%), l'apparition de fissures (72%), les fondations (44%) et les cheminées (29%). Au total, 1521 cas de dommages ont été rapportés et analysés dans ce projet de recherche.