Book reviews

New Works in Geography

The Holocene: an environmental history. 2nd Edition. Neil Roberts. Pp. 316. Oxford: Blackwells, 1998. 2nd Edition. £17.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 631 18638 7.

The nature of the environment. 4th Edition. Andrew Goudie. Pp. xv + 544. Oxford: Blackwells, 2001. Price £21.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 631 20069 X (pbk).

The human impact on the natural environment. 5th Edition. Andrew Goudie. Pp. xvi + 509. Oxford: Blackwells, 2000. Price £17.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 631 19978 0 (pbk).

Statistical methods for geography. Peter A. Rogerson. Pp. xii + 236. London: Sage, 2001. Price £55.00 (hbk), £17.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 7619 6287 5 (hbk), ISBN 0 7619 6288 3 (pbk).

Introduction to planning practice. Philip Allmendinger, Alan Prior & Jeremy Raemaekers. Pp. x + 439. Chichester: John Wiley, 2000. Price £17.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 471 98522.

A geography of heritage. Brian Graham, G.J. Ashworth & J.E. Tunbridge. Pp. v + 284. London: Arnold, 2000. Price £16.99 (pbk), £45.00 (hbk), ISBN 0 340 67778 3 (pbk), ISBN 0 340 67779 1 (hbk).     

Historical ecology of late Holocene sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from northern British Columbia: isotopic and zooarchaeological perspectives

We examined the isotopic composition (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late Holocene (ca. 5200 years BP–AD 1900) archaeological sites in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Because sea otters are now extinct from much of this region and have not fully recolonized their former range (e.g. Haida Gwaii and most of northern BC) these data represent an important first step towards better understanding sea otter foraging ecology in BC. The isotopic data suggest a diet composed primarily of benthic invertebrates, with a very low reliance on epibenthic fish. There is very low isotopic and thus inter-individual dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters during the late Holocene. Furthermore, zooarchaeological abundance data suggest that otters represented a widespread and significant focus of aboriginal hunting practices on the northern BC coast during the mid- to late-Holocene. The consistent reliance on a small number of low-trophic level prey and limited dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters may reflect top-down impacts on otter populations by aboriginal peoples. As part of our assessment of sea otter diet, we review trophic discrimination factors (Δ¹³C and Δ¹⁵N) for bone collagen from published literature and find marked variability, with mean values of +3.7 ± 1.6 for Δ¹³C (n = 21) and +3.6 ± 1.3 for Δ¹⁵N (n = 15).     

Book reviews

Stephen G. Hall and Fred Atkinson, Oil and the British Economy. London, Croom Helm, 1983–208 pp. $12.95.

Harvey B. Feigenbaum, The Politics of Public Enterprise: Oil and the French State. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1985. xvii + 194 pp. $US 33.00.

H.W. Arndt, A Course Through Life: Memoirs of an Australian Economist. Canberra, National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University, 1985. ix + 177 pp. $10.00. Alan Rix (ed.), Intermittent Diplomat: The Japan and Batavia Diaries of W. MacMahon Ball. Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 1988. $37.50.

Benjamin Higgins, The Road Less Travelled. A Development Economist's Quest. Canberra, National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University History of Development Studies 2, 1989. x + 204 pp. $20.00.

Francis Stuart, Towards Coming of Age. A Foreign Service Odyssey. Brisbane, Griffith University Centre for the Study of Australian‐Asian Relations. Australians in Asia series no. 2, 1989. vi + 264 pp. $12.00.

Edward L. Warner III and David A. Ochmanek, Next Moves: An Arms Control Agenda for the 1990's. Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 1989. xi + 163 pp. $US10.95.

Malcolm Saunders and Ralph Summy, The Australian Peace Movement: A Short History. Canberra, Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1986. 78pp. $3.75.

Malcolm Saunders, A Bibliography of Books, Articles and Theses on the History of the Australian Peace Movement. Canberra, Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1987. 115pp. $10.00.

Robert O'Neill, Alliances and International Order. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1988. No price given.

Christine Jennett and Randal G. Steward (eds), Politics of the Future: The Role of Social Movements. Melbourne, Macmillan, 1989. xii + 471 pp. $69.95 (cloth), $34.95 (paper).

John Ravenhill (ed.), No Longer an American Lake? Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 1989. ix + 226 pp. $17.95.

Peter Dennis, Troubled Days of Peace. Mountbatten and South East Asia Command, 1945–46. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1987. xi + 270pp. £40.00 (cloth), £13.95 (paper).

Geoffrey M. White and Lamont Lindstrom (eds), Pacific Theater. Island Representations of World War II. Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 1990. xiv + 433 pp. $44.95.

Rodney Tiffen, News and Power. Sydney Allen and Unwin, 1989. $19.95.

Janet Hunt el al. One World or ... None: Making the Difference. Canberra, Australian Council for Overseas Aid, 1988. 58pp. $5.95.

Tran Tri Vu, lost Years: My 1,632 Days in Vietnamese Reeducation Camps. Berkeley, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1988. xv + 381 pp. $US15.00.

Richard J. Kessler, Rebellion and Repression in the Philippines. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1989. xii + 227 pp. $US25.00.

Margaret Jolly and Martha MacIntyre (eds), Family and Gender in the Pacific: Domestic Contradictions and the Colonial Impact. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989. xiii + 296pp. $49.50.

Frank G. Jarrett and Kym Anderson, Growth, Structural Change and Economic Policy in Papua New Guinea: Implications for Agriculture. Pacific Policy Paper No. 5. Canberra, National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University. 1989. xx + 122pp. $20.00.

Trevor W. Parfitt and Stephen P. Riley, The African Debt Crisis. London, Routledge, 1989. vii + 228 pp.