Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 4th Shelf
The Fourth Shelf: The Exotic Places
Another delayed post, caused by the same expansion that caused trouble last time – and will again cause delays once more. Reluctantly, it has become necessary to revise both the breakdown and publishing schedule to insert an additional shelf. For consistency, Part Zero will be revised accordingly at the same time as this is published.
If anything, this article has been more seriously delayed than the last, for three reasons: first, it’s slightly longer; second, it contains slightly less prepared material; and third, having exhausted my physical reserves last time, it was necessary to spread this effort out more and ensure a reasonable amount of sleep each day.
I have high hopes that the next part will be closer to “on time”, also for three reasons; first, the more practice I have as the editor of the series, the faster I get at the routine tasks; second, I have been streamlining the process as I go, and will continue to do so; and third, there’s a lot more pre-done material to include in the next one. But quality has a higher priority than timeliness; like this one, it will take however long it takes.
Pulp simply wouldn’t be pulp without the occasional touch of the exotic and mysterious. But there isn’t a hard and fast dividing line between ordinary and exotic; rather, there is a gradual transition from the (relatively) ordinary to the extraordinary. This shelf deals with a number of nations and regions that occupy the more exotic end of the ordinary and the more ordinary end of the exotic.
There are a number of reasons why a location might be considered exotic. The most obvious is mystery; anywhere that wasn’t well-known and well-explored. Another reason is that they have changed substantially between the pulp era and the modern day, so much so that the way things were is at arm’s length from everyday experience and understanding. A third is strange beauty, as exemplified by the artifacts of ancient Egypt – which will have to wait until the new 5th shelf, I’m afraid. And a fourth is simply because they contain something so strange that it is noteworthy. This includes the elephants and other exotic flora and fauna of Africa (also next time) and that of Australia (this time).
Because the contents of these two shelves were conceived as a single post (until expanding scale made that impossible), the demarcation lines are a little blurred. But a broad continuity was included in the planning, so there will still be coherence of content.
Speaking of which, let’s get into what everyone has come here for…
Relevance to other genres
The stranger the location, the more readily it can be transplanted into other genres with modifications as necessary. It’s readily possible to base the tribal concept of Goblins on the tribes of the Amazon, for example. The stranger landscapes of Australia look like they came from a fantasy painting. The correspondence between New Zealand and the Lord Of The Rings has been made clear by the Film Adaptions. The horrors of Kuru can easily translate into a fantasy disease – perhaps one communicable by touch – forming an entirely different concept of Ghouls.
Similar logic applies to Science Fiction settings. How often in the original Star Trek did the Enterprise come across a primitive society based on a culture from Earth’s past? Due to the needs of production television and the newness of the entire concept, these were usually obvious and heavy-handed; but as science fiction has evolved in sophistication and audience expectations, so writers have become more adept at filing off the serial numbers and concealing their sources, permitting each new ‘creation’ to be appraised on its merits without the baggage of association.
The same technique also works with Superheroes. Exotic locales and societies always hold their own in terms of presence better when four-color characters come to visit; in more mundane and drab surroundings, the focus is more exclusively on the characters themselves, simply because they stand out so much relative to the setting. That’s why it is so essential to “gothic-up” Gotham City in order for Batman to seem to belong there, visually and stylistically.
One of the things that all games and all genres have in common is that they need somewhere for the action to take place in. Places are always relevant reference material.
![]() image credit: freeimages.com / ilker Shelf IntroductionContains 5 sections, which cover a vast range of locations. There were supposed to be 16, but the other 11 have had to be moved to the additional shelf that is being inserted to hold them. And no, it’s most unlikely that there will be a further problem in it holding them all. The “Exotic Places” can be broadly grouped into three categories: (1) Politically and Socially stable, (2) Radically Changed, unstable, or largely unknown, and (3) the Miscellaneous and Really Strange. This shelf deals mostly with categories one and two, while the next will deal with two and three. The standards of relevance that have been applied vary considerably between these three categories, simply because of the applicability of anything modern to the nations in the middle category. The Rest of North America – There are three main regions in North America other than the USA: Canada, Alaska (a ringer), and Mexico. Note that the Mexico recommendations are about the nation in the 1930s, – if you want the Aztecs, look in the Lost Civilizations section, part of the “Miscellaneous and Strange” group. Australia – Aside from its’ wildlife and natural beauty, there isn’t all that much that’s strange about Australia in the 1930s. A very young nation at the time, but still stable and very strongly an offshoot of England, but two major events – Gallipoli and the Boar War – had begun forging a national identity. Nevertheless, the cultural legacy of being a colonial subject and set of penal colonies was still a major force of the national character, now referred to as the “cultural cringe” – an unspoken belief that we were culturally inferior to England. Nevertheless, Australia deserves to be on this shelf, because of that wildlife and the even wilder American perceptions of the country. Even in the 70s, when Mike first visited the US, most people still thought kangaroos were common sights in the city streets! Certainly, the place is as unique as Northern Canada and the Yukon. It’s just not as exotic as a lot of people thought! New Zealand – in many ways, our trans-Tasman rivals are not very different to Australia. The wildlife is less distinctive, and they have done a much better job of recognizing and integrating their native Mouri population than we have (credit where it is due). But that influence has had an impact on their national character, as has the difference between everyone being crammed onto two islands instead of vast continent. So they need their own section. South America – in the 1930s, South America was viewed as mostly unexplored. In a pulp setting, you could find almost anything in the mountains of Peru or the rainforests of interior Brazil. Note that the Bermuda Triangle has its own section within category three. Pacific Ocean & Surrounding Waters – This section covers a number of Pacific Islands. Many of them have had relatively stable governments, but the balance have more than made up that deficit. Prices and Availability were correct at the time of compilation.
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The Rest Of North AmericaThe immediate neighbors of the US are Canada and Mexico, both qualifying as exotic in their own ways. Because of the environmental similarities to Canada, we have also held Alaska back for inclusion in this section. Hawaii is dealt with elsewhere in this list, but in it’s place are some special-focus entries for the Yukon and the Matanuska Colony. |
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Books about Canada
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![]() 199. Regional Geography of the United States and Canada (4th edition) – Tom L McKnightA best-selling book on the subject, focusing on the description and interpretations of North American landscapes including ecosystems, urban changes, agriculture, and inland waterways. Up-to-date (at the time of publication) maps are also a feature. New copies of this book cost almost $100, but the used ones are within our acceptable price bracket at $14. |
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![]() 200. Canada – Shelagh Rogers with photographs by Mike GrandmaisonOne of the characteristic traits that identify Canada around the world is the stunning natural beauty. This 240-page volume explores that beauty and its diversity, with special attention to the untouched wilderness, unchanged for hundreds if not thousands of years, never mind since the Pulp era. New copies range from $1 to $18 and there are ample used copies starting at just one cent. |
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![]() 201. Canada – Daryl BensonA book in the same vein as its namesake, above, but this contains only 144 color and black and white images spread over 168 pages. New copies cost around the $50 mark, usually a good indication of a quality product, but used copies are affordable starting at $1.50 and in just enough supply to meet our normal standards.
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![]() 202. Darwin Wiggett Photographs Canada – Darwin WiggettHaving justified one addition book of photographs of Canada, why not a second? This book won multiple awards in 1998. What made this book stand out was the description that the photographs offer ‘a unique combination of color, light and meaning’ – i.e. that they are distinctive. Therefore, this is a justifiable conclusion using the same logic applied in the sidebar above. A secondary consideration was that there were only just enough low-priced copies of the Benson book, so having an alternative on offer seemed a prudent move. New copies of this book are in short supply and cost more than $50, but there are used copies for only $2.38 – again, just enough of them to meet our standards. With the justification offered, however, we then need to justify this book not being higher up on the list, i.e. before one or both of the other two. The answer lies in the length, which is only 128 pages. While a higher percentage of the images might be useful, we haven’t read this book – so we have erred on the side of caution. Distinctiveness can either help or hinder, after all. |
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![]() 203. The Rough Guide To CanadaAnd so, to textual information that can supplement those images. As a general rule, the Rough Guides have a reputation for useful content that the others lack, and a greater degree of comprehensiveness, so those tend to be our first choices unless there are plausible complaints of errors. That exception doesn’t apply in this case. Available in both Kindle and Paperback formats, this 912-page book should satisfy most needs. |
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![]() 204. National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of CanadaA possible exception to that ‘most needs’ statement is satisfied by this book. National Geographic usually set a high standard for both visual and text content, and this book appears to be no exception. Amazon have no copies left, but must be anticipating more because they are still charging for it. However there are still copies available from third-party vendors through Amazon. |
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![]() 205. Canada Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture – Diane LemieuxThere are two main series on cultures that emerged from our European research, but only one of them came up when we looked for a suitable Canadian reference, so that’s de-facto our choice. However, we were concerned by the allegations of factual errors, even though those allegations were themselves somewhat confused. Most readers felt this to be a reasonable foundation, and that’s all a good GM needs. |
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Books about Quebec
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![]() 206. Lonely Planet Montreal & Quebec City Travel Guide – Regis St Louis & Gregor ClarkThe Lonely Planet guides are first and foremost for tourists, with lots of information about attractions and accommodation that is usually too modern to be especially relevant to the Pulp GM. But this one caught our eye. Cultural insights and 28 color neighborhood maps made this seem especially relevant when looking at an area that is the most distinctive in Canada – sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad, and sometimes just because they are different. Available in Kindle and Paperback editions. |
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Books about Alaska
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![]() 207. Alaska: A visual tour of America’s Great Land – Bob DevineA ‘tour’ through the history, culture, and landscape of Alaska. National Geographic explores the seven distinct geographic regions of Alaska, discussing the images, history, and art of each, with maps. Our second choice for photographic reference (our first had to be relegated to the honorable mentions for both price and availability), we view everything else as a bonus. |
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![]() 208. Alaska For Dummies (5th edition) – Charles P WohlforthAlaska has 100,000 glaciers and 10 million lakes, according to this book’s blurb. The author has been a native of Alaska his whole life, is noted for his environmental studies within the state, and has been writing about Alaska as a journalist and author for more than twenty years; if anyone’s qualified to introduce it to the general public, he is. This is a travel guide, so expect some of the content to be irrelevant to a Pulp setting. |
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![]() 209. Alaska Then and Now: Anchorage, Fairbanks, & Juneau – Sonta Senkowsky and Amanda CoyneThe history of Alaska told by matching historic images with modern views of the same location that display the before and after of each stage of the state’s evolution, then explains the transition from one to the other. |
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![]() 210. Fairbanks: A Gold Rush Town that Beat The Odds – Dermot ColeThis history of Fairbanks is notable for having the biggest pricing discrepancy between hardcover and paperback that we’ve ever seen. New copies of the former cost $180 or more, used ones are priced at $390. New copies of the paperback start at $10 or a little less, used copies are just $1.78. Which prompts the question, who’s kidding whom? Normally, given the inclusion of “Alaska Then and Now”, we would have given this book a miss as being redundant; what persuaded us otherwise was the first line of Amazon’s description: “Fairbanks has plenty of interesting characters in its past.” |
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![]() 211. A Knucklehead in 1920s Alaska – Norma Collins Huss and William A CollinsAnd, speaking of colorful characters from Alaska’s past, this book presents Bill Collins, who told his stories to Huss. As a 19-year-old, Collins traveled to Alaska to work and save for College, finding adventure, misadventure, and not much money. “He faces hardships, finds friends” … “who will do anything for him and enemies eager to knife him or smash him with a twenty-pound sledge,” “survives hunger, an earthquake, stomping caribou, and icicle frost”. “He has one lucky day and more than a few really bad days”. The description of Bill as a knucklehead is his own; he comes across as a real-life Pulp Adventurer. Of course, it’s also possible that he’s exaggerated just a wee bit! |
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![]() 212. Alaska’s Bush Pilots (Images of Aviation) – Roy Stapleton and the Alaska Aviation MuseumThe rough and ready pioneer aviators of Alaska, from 1913 onward, and their aircraft. It’s entirely possible that there are still parts of Alaska that have never been seen other than from above, either from the air or by satellite. For some reason, new copies of this book are currently cheaper than used, so choose carefully; things are unlikely to stay that way for long. |
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Books about The Klondike / The Yukon
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![]() 213. The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush – Pierre BertonTwo of our three selections regarding the Klondike Gold Rush are by the same author. Aside from looking like the two best books on the subject, this will hopefully minimize overlap, resulting in a more comprehensive totality. Alaska would still be full of people who survived the Klondike but were left with no means to try their luck elsewhere, or who came for the gold but stayed for the location. This book is a general history of the Gold Strike, focusing on those who succeeded. |
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![]() 214. Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush 1896-1899 – Pierre BertonThis book looks at the impact of he Klondike on Canada, contrasting the differences in handling of the situation by the Canadians and Americans, and bringing us the stories of some of the colorful characters drawn to the prospect of Gold or changed radically by it, such as “Soapy Smith, dictator of Skagway; Swiftwater Bill Gates, who bathed in champagne; Silent Sam Bonnifield, who lost and won back a hotel in a poker game; and Roddy Connors, who danced away a fortune at a dollar a dance.” Plus the legendary Mounties of the era, like Sam Steele, “the Lion of the Yukon.” It was those stories and characters that initially caught our eye; the socio-political aspect went almost unnoticed. In the final analysis, however, it was decided that the characters were more of a bonus to the true value of the book for a Pulp GM. But what a bonus :) |
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![]() 215. The Klondike Gold Rush: Photographs from 1896-1899 (100th Anniversary edition) – Graham B. WilsonThis book contains 125 photographs of “the last great gold rush” accompanied by anecdotes and personal accounts, and it’s the latter that is the real treasure for the Pulp GM; the images are a bonus. A pretty good one, though. Availability of this book is plentiful and cheap at the moment. |
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Books about The Matanuska Colony
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![]() 216. The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project: The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska – Helen HegenerIn 1935 the US Federal Government resettled 200 families from the Depression-stricken Midwest to the Matanuska Valley, offering them a new start with government backing and support. This was one of a multitude of projects under the New Deal, and arguably the most successful; overcoming the inevitable bureaucratic entanglements, the Matanuska Colony thrived, by 1948 producing more than half of the agricultural products for the entire state. Not only is the Colony’s founding a part of the Pulp Era, as are the others of its type, but the presence of new inhabitants provides plot opportunities to the pulp GM – what hidden and unsuspected secret might they uncover? Or did the government have some inkling of what might happen? Two very different paths for the GM to walk down – and, if he plays his cards right, he might even be able to walk down both. And then there are all those less-successful colonies; while the information within this book is limited on the subject, there’s nothing to prevent the GM from inventing some other reason for one or more of the failures. You could build an entire campaign with this federal program as the hub! – though that might be a little confining and repetitive if this is the only source of adventures. With all that on offer, this book was impossible to refuse, even though the price is a little outside what we would normally accept, and availability is right on the cusp, despite the provision of a Kindle edition. |
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![]() 217. The Matanuska Colony Album: Photographs of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project – Helen HegenerThe potential implicit in the Matanuska Colony is only increased by this book by the same author, based on the chronicle of the official photographer attached to the Project, Willis T. Geisman. This book also falls just outside the scope of our normal price limits, and fails to achieve our normal availability requirements in numbers as well, but adds so much to the previous book as a combination that it had to be included. Prices of the two are comparable at around the $20-25 mark. |
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Books about Mexico
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![]() 218. The Rough Guide To MexicoOur usual go-to tourist guide to the things to see and do in a country, broken down by geographic region. |
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![]() 219. The People’s Guide to Mexico (14th edition) – Carl Franz and Lorena HavensConsidered the definitive guide to “living, traveling, and taking things as they come” in Mexico by many. We especially like the inclusion of internet links to resources on Mexico, and encouragement to explore beyond the tourist traps – and the best of what to look for when you do. “This is not a guide book that will tell you which hotel to stay in, but instead will tell you how to improvise a lock for a lockless door. It will not tell you which restaurant to eat at, but will tell an anecdote about ordering one dish and getting another that will help you roll with it when it happens to you.” In other words, it’s packed with information that will be useful to a GM and leaves out a lot of stuff that would be irrelevant to the Pulp world. Available in Kindle and Paperback. |
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![]() 220. Mexico’s Once and Future Revolution: Social Upheaval and the Challenge of Rule since the Late Nineteenth Century – Gilbert M Joseph & Jordan BuchenauA concise historical analysis of the Mexican Revolution, its causes, consequences, and legacies, explored from various social perspectives – workers, politicians, artists, the wealthy and the poor, etc. Sometimes, an “outsider’s perspective” is merely a vehicle for injecting some social or political polemic of the author; at other times, it can permit the forest to be seen as well as the trees, yielding insights that would be all-but-impossible from the inside. This appears to be one of the latter cases, viewing the revolution not as a climactic event but as the start of a process by which government and citizenry modified and influenced each other, evolving toward the modern, stable, neo-Liberalism – that survives by knowing its limits and when to look the other way. Kindle and Paperback. |
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![]() 221. The Impossible Triangle: Mexico, Soviet Russia and the United States in the 1920s – Daniela SpenserAnother side of Mexico in the 1920s is revealed by the story of the tangled relationship between Russia and Mexico in the decade that followed their respective revolutions. This book examines not only that, but the involvement – some would say entanglement – at various points by the United States. “Based on documents from the archives of several nations—including reports by former Mexican diplomats in Moscow that have never before been studied.” Hardcover copies are way too expensive for our list, and there aren’t enough of them anyway, but paperback prices are good to tolerable. Technically, there aren’t enough of them, but this reeks of so much potential value to the Pulp GM that we’ll let that slide. |
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![]() 222. Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s – Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond RodriguezAnd, speaking of American involvement with affairs south of the Rio Grande, during the Depression, the Mexican-borne residents were an easy scapegoat for those looking for someone to blame. A wave of resentment led first to laws forbidding the the employment of Mexicans (as though Prohibition had taught them nothing) and then to hysteria-driven pandemic repatriation drives in which one million Mexicans and their children were illegally rounded up and forcibly repatriated to Mexico. When the panic ended, many of the surviving children returned to America and worked to get their lives back in order, and never told their own children of the episode out of shame. The events were quietly swept under the carpet for decades. The potential for Pulp plots should be clear – acts of villainy often breed resentment and create new Villains, and acts of villainy were plentiful throughout this shameful episode. It also has relevance to the modern day, offering new perspectives on the Syrian refugee crisis (and responses to it) and the current issues of illegal immigration. This book only just sneaks under our price and availability limits, but as a subject it is too significant to leave out of our reference library. |
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![]() 223. Mexico: The Essentials (1st Edition) William H Beezley and Colin M MacLachlanA broad introduction to Mexican history and culture built around ten fundamental aspects of Mexican life. |
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![]() 224. The Mexican Mind!: Understanding & Appreciating Mexican Culture! – Boye Lafayette De MenteA deeper and perhaps more insightful work, “De Mente uses key words in the Mexican language to identify and explain the contradictions and paradoxes of Mexico — the omnipresent trappings of Catholicism, the macho-cult of Mexican males, the conflicting treatment of females, the savage brutality of the criminal and the rogue cop, the gentle humility of the poor farmer, the warmth, kindness and compassion of the average city dweller, and the extreme sensuality of the Mexican mindset.” If he isn’t making mountains out of molehills, or confusing cause and effect, this book offers the key to understanding the Mexican character – and, even if he is, the phenomena he attempts to explain provide a useful cultural checklist for the Pulp GM. Ignore the one-star customer review, who didn’t want a book written in English, and contrast the gushing 4- and 5-star reviews with the 2-star criticisms: stereotyping, overgeneralizing, and with questionable factual foundations. So some of the specifics are in question, but as a foundation and a starting point, it still sounds worthwhile. Kindle and Paperback. |
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![]() 225. Culture Shock: Mexico – Mark CramerCanned series description, so we turned to the customer reviews for insight: “This book is very useful … it gives a quick down and dirty synopsis of Mexican history. … It then moves onto the author’s own experiences navigating the culture, with excellent tips [on how to] ‘blend in” and understand what is going on around you. The details the author provides, such as going up to a stranger’s house in the country, and asking “do you have any extra food today?” were true 20 years ago and are still true today” (And presumably would be just as valid in the Pulp era). “It is not a guidebook. It is a hybrid…and very useful for those travelers who blaze their own paths, not the usual tourist tracks of Mexico” – which would include PCs on an adventure, not a holiday. “Tips on how to recognize a good Mexican restaurant, how to address people in social situations, and other Mexicanisms such as various commonly used slang. The author also describes regional differences and urban/rural differences you may come across.” All of which sounds great – but: “…provides a wealth of information about Mexico, but the author’s presentation is rambling and disorganized. Of course, one could take this as a metaphor for Mexico: things appear to be chaotic, but generally they can be made to work,” and, “…full [of] historic data, that unless you are interested in Mexican history, would not [be] useful. Only Pages 101 to 110 have some information relevant to a culture shock book. The rest of the book is rather boring and with a lot of useless accounts and anecdotes.” Well, for our purposes, those accounts and anecdotes might well be useful. Finally, “The biggest shock was the author’s pedantry. The first third of the book is an obscure treatment of history which assumes too much knowledge on the part of the reader. The book needs a glossary with the pronunciation of unusual Spanish words, names, and places. I found myself constantly stumbling over them. For every one of those criticisms there is another review that lauds the books and its content in a most fulsome manner – occasionally confirming that the book is not well-organized. While we usually prefer the Culture Shock series over others, these raised enough concerns about this particular book that we hesitated to include it, and decided only to do so with a substantial discussion of the potential drawbacks. |
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![]() 226. Culture Smart Mexico – Guy MavorAlso described only by a canned description of the series, and with only three brief customer reviews, there isn’t a lot to go on – otherwise we would have elevated this over the preceding recommendation. In fact, our only takeaway from those reviews is that this is strong in the areas in which the Culture Shock book is weak, but achieves this by being sparse in content. So the positive reviews of the preceding volume give it primacy over this as a resource, despite the criticisms. |
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AustraliaWith all three of the authors of this series being Australian, we were especially ruthless in pruning this section – or we would have ended up with three times as many books. As things stand, we know this to be an incomplete selection. To explain why, and help place anything you read from the selections included into context, we need to waffle on a bit. Australia is BIG. The size of the US, close enough – if we conveniently ignore Alaska. When you total it up, the US comes out about 5.22% bigger. Comparisons with Europe – all of it, but Russia – paint an even starker comparison. Numbers are harder to come by but you can see the comparison for yourself below. Mike comes from central New South Wales (as he detailed in this article about his home town), very close to the middle of it in fact. This is one of the eastern states, only the fourth largest of the six – behind Western Australia, Queensland, and South Australia. Should the Northern Territory ever become North Australia, it will push New South Wales further down the list – fifth largest of seven. When he used to travel to the State Capital, Sydney – a distance about the same as New York to Oakville, Ontario; not quite as far as New York to Lynchburg, Virginia, and just a tad more than New York to Erie, Pennsylvania, and considerably farther than the distance to Pittsburgh. (For any Europeans reading this, roughly the distance between Paris and Bavaria or Lichtenstein). Foreigners perpetually underestimate the scale of the place. Australia’s population is roughly that of New York City. Can a citizen of New York tell the difference between himself and someone from Virginia? How about someone from Ontario? Is there a difference between a Parisian and a German? Australians are great travelers – we have to be, just to get anywhere. And that helps keep the country more or less homogenized, at least at a state level. Now think about the diversity of ecosystems within the entire continental US and throw in millions of years of isolation – how much more complex and varied will those of Australia be? Also helping to keep the culture reasonably consistent is the fact that much of the inland ranges from sparsely inhabited to barely habitable or worse. The population is clumped into 3 major cities, all located along the coast, plus a handful of smaller cities, a few dozen (at best) tiny cities, a vast number of small-to-tiny towns, and a small agrarian population. There is a cattle ranch in central Australia that is roughly the size of Vermont. 24,000 square kilometers. 5.9 million acres. The five largest such ranches (called stations in Australia), when combined, are almost as large as all of Indiana. (Again, for Europeans: Combining the top six gives the same area as all of Denmark plus all of Belgium plus all of Turkey!) Now that you have some appreciation of the size, contemplate the difficulty in trying to sum all that up in any single guidebook – or any single anything, for that matter. Imagine the difficulty of simply exploring all of that. It’s a situation ripe for misinformation and misjudgments and overgeneralizing. The best way to avoid that is to be extremely choosy about the books that we list. The slightest hint of inaccuracy, and we turned to an alternative – unless they were even less reliable. |
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Books about Australia in general
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![]() 227. Australia: Land Beyond Time – Reg MorrisonUnique wildlife, ancient trees, and spectacular landscapes – Australia is full of surprises and great images. This book captures more than 300 of them in color, then draws on earth scientists and biologists to make sense of it all. Seventeen chapters accompanied by timelines and maps, lead the reader through the 4 Billion Years of Australia’s natural history. This was a New York Times bestseller for a reason; and new copies currently sell – in very limited remaining numbers – for more than US$40. Which makes it all the remarkable that there are at least some used copies for just $0.32. Get them quick, they won’t last. |
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![]() 228. Australia: Images of a Timeless Land – Peter LikThis book contains only 192 pages but the photography is arguably even better than in the first. It lacks the comprehensive nature of the first (which still doesn’t show all their is to see) and doesn’t have the supporting text. New copies of the Hardcover are listed as costing $42 or so – but, Amazingly, there are a number of used copies starting at just $0.77. |
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![]() 229. National Geographic Traveler: Australia (5th Edition) – Roff Martin SmithAmazon has copies of this 399-page book, which bridges the gap between travel guide and photographic study, for $20.62 new, but at least some third-party vendors are undercutting that price a little. There are also a reasonable number of second-hand copies starting at just $6. Starting with a detailed introduction to Australia’s history, food, land, and culture, Roff uses 175 photographs and 30 maps to illustrate seven trips through Australia, so it is less comprehensive again than either of the previous two books. But this is a travel guide, and makes up for that with sidebars on various topics and activities and insider tips on little-known sites and experiences. There are four serious omissions, as one reviewer makes clear – (1) The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park; (2) Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area; (3) Wave Rock near Hyden in Western Australia, a few hours drive east from Perth; and (4) Beehive dome formations at Bungle Bungle National Park. (We’ve included the list so that you can search for them yourselves, at least partially correcting this deficiency). |
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![]() 230. The Rough Guide To AustraliaThis book weighs in at a hefty 1032 pages, more than 3 1/2 time the length of the National Geographic offering, and also reportedly has very tiny print. You would expect that to provide room a lot more content. Most customers give it big ticks relative to the competition, such as Lonely Planet (which used to be the benchmark), but one lone voice complains of disorganization and – essentially – of being unable to see the forest (i.e. what’s major) for the trees (what’s not). Of course the whole idea is for the reader to read the entries and decide for themselves what appeals. The lack of organizational coherence is a bigger issue, and is the major reason for listing the National Geographic Guidebook ahead of this one. If you can take the time to prize the meat out and do your own notations and cross-connections, this is probably the better resource; if not, stick with the NatGeo. |
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![]() 231. How Australia Compares – Rodney Tiffen and Ross GittinsThis book is published by Cambridge University Press, which should right away warn of two things: British Spelling, and a serious book. This 294 pages of analysis that compares Australia with 17 other developed nations “across a wide range of social, economic, and political dimensions,” charting trends over decades or more whenever they have the data to support such an analysis. Each topic is dealt with using a double-page spread with tables and charts on one side and commentary/analysis on the facing page. The goal is to put the Australian experience into international perspective. Hardcovers start at $8.75 and range up to $110, paperbacks are from $17.94 to $73. Make sure to get the much-improved second edition if you don’t buy through Amazon – there have been indications in the past the the “other vendors” conflates all available editions, as was noted in the previous part of this series. The vendor should be able to tell by looking at the cover, as you can see from the accompanying image. Note that the hardcover image lacks this telltale and explains why some of the prices are so cheap. Hence, to play it safe, we’re linking to the paperback edition. |
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![]() 232. Australian History for Dummies – Alex McDermottAustralia has a very colorful past. It says something that one of our national heroes is a glorified highwayman wearing a pot on his head – all right, that description is just slightly understated; Ned Kelly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly is so famous he has even appeared on an Irish Stamp. There is certainly a social cache to having an ancestor who was transported, i.e. a convict. Like the settlers in the American Wild West, the settlers here took on the harshest possible conditions and learned to stare them in the eye before beating them into submission, producing a strong, almost willful, independence and can-do attitude. Aussies, therefore, make great Pulp Characters, both heroes and villains. (Hmm, we haven’t used one as a villain yet in the Adventurer’s Club campaign… mental note made). Anyway, if you want to be able to play an Aussie to the hilt, you’ll need to know about them – and this book makes a great start. |
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![]() 233. The Explorers: Stories of Discovery and Adventure from the Australian Frontier – Tim Flannery (editor)A collection of 67 true stories of the exploration of Australia, starting in Dutch captain Willem Jenz’s 1606 Expedition at the northernmost point of Australia, Cape York, and ending with Robyn Davidson’s 1977 camel-back ride through the outback deserts. Available in Kindle and Paperback. |
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![]() 234. Culture and Customs of Australia – Laurie ClancyWe looked at a great number of Culture guides to the Australian population, and this seemed by far to be the best of them. Topics include the Australian concept of Mateship and the Bush, the off-again-on-again Australian love affair with Multiculturalism, the suburban dream, the importance of Sports, the evolving cuisine (which will certainly have moved on since this book was written – Scandinavian is ‘in’ right now), and the beach culture. Very much about the Australia of today, however, which was very different from that of the Pulp Era. Nevertheless, this presents a picture of ‘now’ that serves as a necessary foundation and contrast to ‘then’. New copies of this book can be quite expensive, as is the Kindle edition ($50+). Used is definitely the way to go – while copies last. |
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![]() 235. Australian Language & Culture – Lonely PlanetOne of the fastest ways to represent a character’s nationality is through the language that they use. Not the accent – though that can be useful, too, if you are any good at them – but the actual words, the slang, the lingo. Australia has changed markedly in this respect over the years; most of the slang in use when we were children is now decades out of date. The slang that our parents and younger grandparents still appears from time to time as a caricature, for example through the internationally-recognized character of Dame Edna Everage; but for every Aussie who laughs (maybe for every couple), there will be one who cringes, It’s also noteworthy that different social classes employ different slang. There is also some regional slang that may eventually turn into a different accent, but which hasn’t done so, as yet. And, of course, formal language is different again; throughout the pulp period it was the mark of education and intellect to speak with a formal British accent, something that persisted into the 1950s and was still present in diluted form for two or three decades longer. Until the end of Gough Whitlam‘s time in government (977), let us say. His successors, on both sides of politics, all had Australian accents of varying intensity. Most guides such as this make the mistake of conflating it all into one “dialect” regardless of time period or socio-economic background of speaker. “Not Happy, Jan,” as the most recently-depreciated piece of such slang would have said. It’s our hope that Lonely Planet have avoided falling into this trap in the same way that many of the “also bought” items offered by Amazon have done. If not, well, an Aussie will ‘set you right’ promptly, but most others won’t know the difference, so ‘she’ll be right, mate’. |
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![]() 236. Australia Culture Smart – Barry Penney and Gina TeagueThis is the only book on Australian Culture whose description even hints at the Cultural Cringe. Experts disagree on when we started to lose that handicap; some point to the success of The Seekers, others to Don Bradman, and still others to World War One and the Gallipoli landings. We think they are all partially right, that the change was a progressive evolution, each step forward being made possible by the preceding one. Certainly by the 1980s, it existed only in vestigial form; and the success of the Sydney Olympics put the final nail in the coffin except in a few backwoods types who never quite made the transition to modernity. It’s easy to see, then, why it would be possible for an only somewhat-shallow entry into the topic could ignore the subject completely as no longer being of relevance, or even fail to become aware of it, and why even hinting at it is an indicator of having done your homework. This is an important consideration, because the cultural cringe was in full force, or close to it, throughout the Pulp Period. Any book that deals with this transition in cultural identity is one that is therefore more useful as a reference to the Pulp GM. |
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Books about Sydney
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![]() 237. Sydney Then And Now – Caroline Mackanass and Caroline Butler-BowdenSydney is a lot like Boston, in that the city’s history nestles here and there between more modern structures. This 144-page book features side-by-side photographs that document the transitions undergone by the City as they were and are. It notably includes some Sydney icons that often don’t get a mention in the travel guides. Used copies of the paperback cost a ridiculous $185+, new (both paperback and hardcover) are about $40, but it’s used copies of the hardcover are the bargains for as little as $2. It should come as no surprise that this is the format we have linked to. |
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![]() 238. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: SydneyWe commented earlier that as Australians, we naturally were extremely judgmental in choosing the best books to represent the country. As residents of Sydney, that goes double. Of the travel guides selected for inclusion, this is by far the most comprehensive and useful.It details locations that are iconic to the residents but don’t even get mentioned in the other two. There are a few things we would have liked to have added to the odd description or sidebar here and there in this 264 page publication, but everything actually said is completely accurate so far as we could judge. The extras, like floor plans for the major museums, elevate it even further above It even includes a couple of pages specifically on what we have been referring to as the Pulp Era, the period between the two World Wars. |
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![]() 239. National Geographic Traveler: Sydney (2nd edition)Second-best, and also covering sites that the other does not, is this tour guide from National Geographic. Again, everything we read in the preview was completely accurate. The focus is a little more “touristy” in orientation. The information most likely to date – bus routes, hotels, restaurants, and prices – are the least useful content from the perspective of a pulp GM, so buy from the used list with confidence – but new copies are also eminently affordable from 3rd parties for a quarter of Amazon’s price. |
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![]() 240. The Bridge: The epic story of an Australian Icon – the Sydney Harbour Bridge – Peter LalorConstruction began on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in mid-1923 and ended in 1932 – both events securely within the Pulp Era. This book was published as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations, and deals with the machinations involved in that construction process. Nicknamed “The Iron Lung” by locals because the construction provided jobs for many who would otherwise have been unemployed during the Great Depression. From day one, the bridge was mired in controversy; there is no clear certainty who designed it, the design itself was initially disliked in some quarters, there were contentious battles over the impact on residents and businesses at both ends, and the thunder of the non-royal state Premier was stolen by a member of the Fascist New Guard, slashing at the ribbon with his saber. (Of course, this project would be followed by another that was, in it’s own way, even more controversial, the now-iconic Sydney Opera House, but that’s outside the scope of this series). To be honest, this book should not be in this section at all. It costs too much at $30-40, and there aren’t enough copies available. But the story of the bridge and its construction is so Pulp in character that we couldn’t refuse – and we could refuse to list an inferior resource (not that there were many choices). Available in Kindle and Paperback. |
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Books about MelbourneSydney and Melbourne have had a rivalry going since forever – well, since European Colonization, anyway. The National Capital is in a city build specifically for the purpose midway between the two cities simply because neither would accept the other in the role. Having just declared ourselves Sydneysiders, it is incumbent to scuttle immediately any suspicions that we may have deliberately made poor choices of books to represent our southern rivals. |
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![]() 241. Melbourne – Sophie CunninghamThis book contains a year of the Author’s Diary starting with an Australian heat wave (no-one does heat waves like Australia!) which culminated in over 400 bushfires (wildfires to those in America). In the course of exploring the city, Sophie shares her recollections of growing up there and tells stories from its history, which will include some from the pulp era. Beyond the specifics, we would also expect the Australian character to emerge from her experiences – because there are just as many similarities between Australians as there are differences. |
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![]() 242. Lonely Planet Melbourne & VictoriaA more conventional travel guide. covering not only the city but also the surrounding state (which is roughly the size of Romania, or Minnesota). Covers history, art, literature, cinema, television, music, theater, dance, architecture, sport, fashion, cuisine, coffee culture, wine, politics, landscapes, wildlife, Melbourne City, the Grampians, Spa Country, The Great Ocean Road, Bellarine Peninsula, Phillip Island, The Mornington Peninsula, Wilsons Promontory, Gippsland, the High Country, the Murray River, and more. |
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![]() 243. The Melbourne Tram Book – Randall Wilson and Dale BuddMelbourne’s Trams are iconic. Sydney got rid of its’ trams as inefficient many years ago, permitting Melbourne to capitalize on the imagery in much the same way that San Francisco does, and was happy that way for a long time – then began to regret the move. There are several editions of this book available, but this is the newest – and the cheapest. While the images all feature the trams that are the subjects of the book, the period surroundings are half the value to a pulp GM. |
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Books about The Australian Outback
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![]() 244. Indigenous Australia For Dummies – Larissa BehrendtIn the discussion on Native Americans For Dummies, We suggested that most Australians don’t know enough about Indigenous Australia – never mind what the rest of the world’s population doesn’t know. If Australian History For Dummies is essential, so is this book. The only problem is the price – unlike most of the For Dummies books, this is quite expensive and in short supply. Kindle $16.83, New (11 copies) $23.13 or more, Used (5 copies) from $22.11. We’re bending the rules to include it. |
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![]() 245. Travels In Outback Australia – Andrew StevensonTravel writer Stevenson dives headlong into the path less traveled that leads to the heart of the continent and back out again, encountering characters, wild men, Indigenous Australians, and adventure. The people he meets will be the citizens most unchanged since the pulp era. This book was originally published in Australia as “Out Back”. The most notable things left out (aside from many tourist traps) are the major cities – Sydney and Melbourne. In other words, this book tells “the rest of the story”. |
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![]() 246. Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal AustraliaThe Dreamtime is fundamental to the cultural beliefs of Indigenous Australians. It can be described very simply, and yet be complex enough to consume lifetimes of research. A spirit realm in which time does not pass and the spirits of the dead watch over the living and the young wait to be born, infinitely distant and yet as close as your shoulder – or so we understand it, having only a mis-educated white perspective on such matters, having half-understood half-heard stories and explanations from other people who didn’t know the answers any more than we did. In other words, that’s probably an exact description of everything that it’s not! We aren’t completely ignorant; we know that there is not one Australian Aboriginal culture, there are hundreds, and all with their own stories of what was and how what is came to be, their own cultures. We are, in fact, educated enough to recognize how much we don’t know, and how much their is to know – lest our half-baked half-understood understandings lend insult, if nothing else. For the pulp GM, these issues assume a new relevance. What if the Dreamtime were out there now, today? Creatures and spirits both good and wise and hostile came from the Dreamtime… Gaining a clearer understanding of The Dreamtime won’t reverse all the cultural damage that has been inflicted by western society, but the world is what it is; it would certainly be a start, moving forward. This book is all about the spirit-journey of the Australian Aboriginals and their metaphysical concept, The Dreamtime. Available in Kindle and Hardcover. |
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![]() 247. Australia’s Dangerous Creatures For Dummies – Graeme Lofts and Peg GillThe modern myth is that Australia has the deadliest of everything, and it’s something that Aussies take great delight in playing up out of a larrikin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrikin sense of humor. The reality is that there are arguably deadlier versions of most things in other places – but Australia’s native fauna comes close, and is often more aggressive, downright hostile, and outright intimidating, than anywhere else – especially when you put the whole role-call together. Heck, we even have non-deadly spiders whose bite is believed to cause limb necrosis that can easily kill if medical attention is not prompt and precise – and even then can be touch-and-go! And a Great Red Kangaroo in full locomotion in pursuit of a wild boar has to be seen to be believed – some of them can grow to be 8′ tall, and bound along up to 6′ off the ground. Don’t believe us? Check out this book and decide for yourself – because even if we are exaggerating, the native wildlife of the Island Continent is both unique and a great challenge for Pulp Characters. http://amzn.to/2dxkkWC |
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New ZealandThe Lord of the Rings trilogy told the world what some knew already: New Zealand is replete with utterly gorgeous landscapes and vistas. So much has this changed the perception of the nation that the cities of Auckland and Christchurch are often an almost-forgotten afterthought, or viewed as a gateway.to the rest of the country. We’ve talked about New Zealand a bit already, so let’s dive straight into the recommendations, shall we? |
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Books about New Zealand
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![]() 248. New Zealand: Eye On The Landscape – Craig Potton and Robbie BurtonAs befits such a visually-striking country, we have four photographic collections to offer, of which this is the first. 191 Pages, pages are 5.7×7.4 inches – postcard size. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing – it increases the portability of the book, but it means that the images are small. Hence the extremely affordable price. The pictures themselves are every bit as good as you would hope, but the size can be a problem, and the customer comments and ratings reflect both of these factors. New copies sell for $17 or so, used copies for just 1 cent. |
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![]() 249. New Zealand Horizons Panoramic Photography – Andris ApseAt 80 pages, this book is even smaller than the preceding one in one important dimension, but the images are larger – 10.7 x 7 images, the size of most softcover game supplements. Copies are appropriately higher-priced as well, at $22 new and $0.23 used. Unlike the previous book, which was a ‘best of’ compilation from the Photographic Society of New Zealand, this is the work of a single high-profile nature photographer native to the country. |
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![]() 250. New Zealand Landscapes – Andris ApseAnother book from the same photographer, this time at a more robust 116 pages, each slightly larger than the postcard size of the first book – by about the right amount for the images to have a border. The full-sized version of this book also had the same title. Again, portability has been increased at the expense of picture quality, unfortunately coffee-table books with big photographs tend to be expensive. |
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![]() 251. Portrait Of New Zealand (2nd edition) – Warren JacobsBut sometimes there are bargains to be had. At 192 pages, this has the highest page count of all four image collections, and at 11.4 x 8.7 inches, slightly larger pages as well. Originally published in 2 volumes in 1982 and the combined volume in 1988 and reprinted every year since. Until this second edition, some of the photographs had been printed in black and white even though they had been taken with color film, something that greatly puzzled Mike, who is the closest thing to an expert on photography among the three of us. He always thought that “the point of modern black and white photography is first, the Noir stylistic influence, using lighting and shadow to add symbolism and meaning to an image, and second, to permit higher-grain film stock for higher-resolution images that capture more of the textural element of the subjects – and neither of those objectives are served by turning color into black and white.” We’ll take your word for it, Mike, and just move on. In any event, this volume is in full color, and new copies start at the budget-busting price of around $35, but there are used copies starting at about $1. As we said, bargain! Or is it? Given our concerns about the conflating of editions, maybe there’s a reason for that discounting – and that is why this book hasn’t been given pride of place within the sub-list of New Zealand photographic books. Caveat Emptor. |
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![]() 252. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide (Revised Edition): New ZealandThe first of three-and-a-half tourist guides we are listing, this has more customer reviews and a higher average rating than any other New Zealand travel guide we saw with a similar review population. Available in both paperback and flexibound editions, and affordable in both new and used conditions for similar prices – $10 to $17. As in other localities, its the extras that elevate this beyond most in terms of value to the Pulp GM – museum floor-plans in particular. The product description also boasts of having ‘the most maps, photographs, and illustrations of any guide’. 384 pages. We aren’t especially edition-conscious on this recommendation. |
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![]() 253. Insight Guides: New Zealand (Revised edition)There’s an emphasis on the ‘outdoor adventure’ aspects of New Zealand in this travel guide, which makes it especially suitable for adaption to Pulp purposes. The other distinguishing feature of the Insight Guides, as noted on the previous shelf, are that they tend to be organized regionally and comprehensive in the list of regions. Available in Kindle and Paperback. |
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![]() 254. The Rough Guide To New Zealand 8th Edition254. The Rough Guide To New Zealand 9th Edition (pictured)The rough guides, as noted earlier, usually take pride of place on our lists because they have relevant content the others don’t include, but right away this one put us off a little by describing itself as “the definitive guide to the world’s adventure capital”. New Zealand is not a city, and hence not the capital of anything. The customer reviews also gave us something of a sinking feeling, with comment especially being made that it was rather too tourist-attraction oriented. That said, there are elements of the description that enthused us enough to list it – it didn’t have a canned product description, for a start, and the content sounds excellent as always – and in the teeny-tiny font that is ubiquitous in the Rough Guides range. 848 pages of small print makes this a good reference book, not a good reading book – but that’s always been our priority in compiling these lists. Special comment must be made of the Kindle version of the older edition, whose maps are described as “unusable” by at least one reviewer. In earlier entries, we noted that the early edition rough guides were not as well-received or useful as the more recent ones, in which appear to have stepped up their game. That is also the case this time out, but copies of the older edition are a lot cheaper – which is always attractive in a product to be purchased for a niche application. The product description of the newer edition, after that grating statement mentioned earlier, promises “detailed accounts of every attraction, along with crystal-clear maps and plans”, which almost redeems it. The page count is unchanged. Nevertheless, this is enough to make the newer one our recommendation – if you can afford it. Eighth Edition: New from #18.44 or purchase from Amazon for $25.04; used just one cent. Ninth Edition: New from #13.43, Kindle $12.75, or buy from Amazon for $28; used, about $14. |
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![]() 255. Johnny Enzed: The New Zealand Soldier in the First World War 1914-1918World War I was just as formative to the New Zealand national identity as to that of Australia. The two countries fought side-by-side throughout as a single corps, the Anzacs (Australian & New Zealand Army Corps), went through hell together, and fought their way through to the other side. Our national day of remembrance is shared. And because we contend that ex-servicemen are a logical source of Pulp Adventurers, this seemed the most logical history book to focus on; the tourist guides will all contain a general history that should otherwise be sufficient. Of over 100,000 troops deployed, New Zealand suffered 60% casualties. As the product description for this book makes clear, that would be deeply impacting on any nation, but is all the more keenly felt by a small nation, such as New Zealand. This is a compilation of personal testimonies from both those who survived and those who perished, in the process bringing the personal experiences of the soldiers to life. That makes it particularly relevant to a Pulp GM wanting to use one of these men as a character. Available in hardcover and Kindle, this only just makes our cut-off price. Used copies are clearly thought to be in demand given that they are priced higher than new copies. |
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![]() 256. Living and Working in New Zealand: A survival HandbookThere’s a big difference between visiting somewhere as a tourist and actually living in a country; the latter lets you experience the real country underneath the glossy veneer and dog-and-pony shows, it lets you get in touch with the people. Tour guides are useful for GMs because they employ them to choose settings for encounters and events for adventures taking place in the subject nation; living-and-working guides and cultural references put the GM in touch with the people of the location, enabling the creation and roleplaying of realistic NPCs. Of course, for a pulp campaign, everything and everybody should be turned up to “11”, but these are the best starting points. As with earlier works in this series that we’ve recommended, this is full of modern-day practical advice, only some of which will translate directly back into the Pulp period. |
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![]() 257. New Zealand Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs & CultureAfter the preceding product, the utility promised by this highly-rated book is clear. Available in Kindle and Paperback editions. |
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South America |
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Books about South America in general
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![]() 258. Exploring South America – Loren McIntyreA photographic exploration of South America from the rainforests to the mountains, from the coasts to the deep inland, in full color. 208 pages, each 9.5 by 12.5 inches – that’s an inch wider and one-and-a-half taller than the official D&D hardcovers. New copies are only $3, used $0.14. |
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![]() 259. The Penguin History of Latin America – Edwin Williamson“Fully updated to 2009”, this history covers Argentine, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Cuba in detail in its 720 pages. Available in Kindle and Paperback; the latter for $9 new and $5.25 used – affordably comprehensive. |
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![]() 260. In the Land of the Jaguar: South America and its People – Gena K Gorell, illustrated by Andrej KrystoforskiIt’s hard to tell whether this book is as comprehensive as the last; how many different tribes are there in South America, and how different are they from one another? But even if this only focuses on the most interesting, it is an indispensable resource for anyone planning an adventure set in the wilds of the Southern continent of the Americas. |
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![]() 261. Encyclopedia of World Cultures: South America – Johannes WilbertAs you can see from the accompanying image, this is a ten-volume set that “describes more than 1500 cultural groups across the globe”. It also costs $271 from Amazon, and prices from third parties cost $110 or more. Which leads us to suspect that these prices are for the full set, not simply the volume dealing with South America, despite the title. $27.10 – or $11 – a volume seems reasonable to us. The “used” price of $2.20, on the other hand, we suspect of being for just the volume on South America. But we aren’t certain of any of this – which is why it is here, and not in the general reference section.Buying a ‘new’ copy seems like a very big gamble to take, so we recommend buying one of the low-price used copies while they last. |
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![]() 262. South America (Insight Guides) – Stephan KuffnerThe “most illustrated full color travel guide on the market”. In fact, there aren’t many that cover the whole of South America, which is why we were surprised when this came up in our search. Chapters deal with each of the South American countries. |
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![]() 263. Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America – Adrian Forsyth and Ken MiyataSeventeen chapters, each containing a short essay on observed wildlife and ecosystems within the Rainforests. Described as well-written and easily readable, spiced up by personal anecdotes and experiences of the authors. Each of those anecdotes is a potential encounter for PCs who brave the perils. |
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![]() 264. Giants of the Lost World: Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Monsters of South America – Donald R ProtheroIn 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s book “The Lost World” was published, the central premise of which was that prehistoric creatures still survive on a plateau in the Amazon Basin. It is now well-known that he was right about everything except the ‘survive” part. At only 192 pages, this is not our preferred work on the subject, but that is languishing in the Honorable Mentions for being too expensive. Which leaves our second choice, a book that suffers from no such problems – at least at present. Amazon sells the hardcover for $28 and a Kindle edition for $15-odd. Other vendors list the new price as $16.61 (plus p&h) and used copies start at #19.65 and are in short supply. |
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Books about Peru
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![]() 265. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Peru (2014 Revised Edition) (pictured)265. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Peru (2016 reprint of the preceding Edition with a different cover)There are three travel guides that we are recommending, because each contains something that the others lack. The first is this 484-page book – but that page count is misleading, because part of the book is spent spruiking another of their guides – to Italy, not even to somewhere relevant to someone who has bought this particular book. “3D cutaway illustrations, floor plans, and reconstructions of must-see sights, plus street-by-street maps of cities and towns.” “…hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and maps.” That sounds promising – but it skimps on the sites of greatest interest, Cusco, The Inca Trail, and Machu Picchu, and on the small town that everyone goes to en route to the latter. Repetitive cultural information was another complaint. The most common complaint, though, is that it is full of beautiful pictures – at the expense of information. Like many travel guides, this has small type that can also be a problem – you would think that someone had realized that retirees play tourist, too. 2014 edition (cheaper) http://amzn.to/2cV4nHi |
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![]() 266 The Rough Guide To Peru – Dilwyn Jenkins and Kiki DeereThe Rough Guides are always strong on information, so we expected this to plug the gaps left by the DK Eyewitness Guide, and to a certain extent, it does – but, unusually, this book earns criticism for lacking specific useful information, being poorly indexed. The most serious complaint of purchasers was that information was incomplete or out-of-date. Copies are also midway through our acceptable range, which would be fine if not for those criticisms. So we’re a little unsure about this one. |
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![]() 267. Insight Guides: PeruEverything in the description of this book sounds great, but it leaves out some key festivals and sites. However, those that it does include are reportedly covered very well. So you want the DK guide for the images, this guide for the descriptions, and the Rough Guide for the information. Like the Rough Guide, it’s midway through our price range – which would be fine if it was the sole reference required for a comprehensive view of the subject, but as it is… |
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![]() 268. Peru Culture Smart! The essential guide to customs and culture – John Forrest and Julia PorturasThe description for this book satisfied us completely that this was the only Culture book needed for Peru. “The two distinctive cultures that first encountered each other five hundred years ago have, progressively, integrated. This process of mixing, however, raises questions about Peruvian identity. Peruvian society is divided between the wealthy, Westernized, coastal urban populations and the poorer, traditional, indigenous peoples, many of whom have migrated from the Andes to the cities.” “Peruvians are increasingly embracing consumerism, but for their happiness they still depend on each other, and the family is paramount.” The guide is up-to-date, but charts how history and geography have led to the modern outcomes, enabling the reader to backtrack to an earlier time period – like the Pulp Era – as desired. Kindle and paperback (and cheap). |
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Books about The Andes
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![]() 269. Up The Amazon, Down The Andes – Ben BallwegWe had several contenders for this subsection that were quite enticing, but one by one, they all fell to the twin rules of availability and price. Look for them all in the honorable mentions. This is the sole survivor of that bloodletting – a first-hand account from a natural explorer. The description is a recitation of the back-cover blurb. The most critical customer review is gushing with praise, describing it as “a fine guide to anyone contemplating a similar excursion” – and there have been enough reviews to merit consideration of the consensus. If you are contemplating a South American adventure, either in real life or in an RPG, this is essential reading. Kindle and paperback. |
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Books about Chile
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![]() 270. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Chile & Easter Island (2013 Edition)270. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Chile & Easter Island (2016 Edition)The DK Eyewitness Travel Guides are rapidly becoming our go-to sources for South America, just as the Rough Guides were for Europe (most of the time). Region by region guides; local festivals and markets, beaches and national parks, with the information generally regarded as well organized and accessible – once you work out the internal logic to the pattern. As with most DK guides, however, this one is long on images and short on details. ‘Excellent for an overview, but not much more’ is a recurring theme in reviews. One review challenged this overall impression, however, describing it as the “worst travel guide I have ever used. Descriptions were so superficial as to be worthless. Maps were not detailed enough and therefore not helpful.” As with most travel guides, there were also complaints about the tiny font being used, with a recommendation that purchase be accompanied by a magnifying glass. We’re providing links to two editions of the book: the 352-page 2013 edition and the 344-page 2016 version. Our limited inspections did not make it clear where the reduced page count went. There are plenty of low-priced copies of the older edition but the newer one is not very expensive, either (just more expensive) – the changeover point is around the $8-10 mark. If you can get an adequate copy of the older one for less than that, do so; once you hit that price point, you will have to start comparing prices and value for money between the two. 2013 edition (pictured): http://amzn.to/2e4dfzc 2016 edition: http://amzn.to/2dwQOQX |
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![]() 271. The Rough Guide to Chile – Shafik Meghji, Anna Kaminski, and Rosalba O’BrienAs usual, the Rough Guides pack more information into a higher page count (528, in this case) with a smaller font. They also have a reputation for including information the others lack, but it can be harder to find the information you want. Kindle and Paperback editions. |
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![]() 272. Culture Shock Chile: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette – Susan Roraff and Laura CamachoThere are two culture series that constantly vie for being the best recommendation in these lists, Culture Smart and Culture Shock. When it comes to Chile, Culture Shock wins that contest so overwhelmingly that we aren’t even listing the Culture Smart book. The reason is relevant: reports of numerous grave inaccuracies that had some reviewers questioning whether or not the authors had ever been to the country in the first place. And so, to this 278-page alternative: highly rated by most, described as accurate by a Chilean native. There are suggestions that the best place to start reading is anywhere but chapter one, “First Impressions”, which contains the least accessible writing. The most serious accusation is that it focuses too closely on Santiago, to the detriment of the rest of the country. Even given that caveat, however, this is still clearly the best book on the subject, with many reviewers in a position to know commenting on its accuracy. |
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Books about Brazil
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![]() 273. Brazil – Simona StoppaWe expected a glut of books about the largest South American nation by area as a consequence of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, and it was a good thing that we were braced for it. From more than thirty contenders, only seven made the grade – and none were cut for price/availability reasons. Leading off this subsection is photo book, not that you could tell that this was the subject from the product description, which is all about the nation and not the book. The customer reviews were more enlightening. 272 pages almost entirely of photos, almost-entirely in color, including reproductions of historical portraits. The latter are reported to be good but not great – it’s a very specialized art – but the photographs are top-rated in the sense that they capture images unlike those readers may have seen before: Nature (of course), a number of different cities (not just Rio and Sao Paulo), and Cultural life. The selection seems more profound than is usually the case, capturing nuances and subjects rarely the focus of attention. The text that accompanies the images is succinct but nevertheless forms a good introduction to the country despite being concise. New copies are just $6 through third-party vendors, and used copies start at $4.33. Page sizes are roughly the same as most RPG hardcovers. |
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![]() 274. Stringing Together a Nation: Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon and the Construction of a Modern Brazil, 1906-1930 – Todd A DiaconThanks to the very broad history we linked to in the main South America section, there’s been no need to include many specific histories in the subsections; the brief introductions in the travel guides seemed more than sufficient in most cases. We’re making an exception for this book, for reasons of direct relevance. The subject is one of the most debated figures in modern Brazilian history, a military engineer who spearheaded the construction of telegraph lines and roads that connected the interior with the coast for the first time, attempting social engineering to create a unified Brazil from disparate local communities in the process. For half the ‘Pulp Era” this project is contemporary; for the other half, it is newly-complete and beginning to exert its social and cultural influence, often (presumably) over the objections of the locals. That makes this book directly relevant to the Pulp GM who intends to use the Amazon or the Brazilian Rainforest in his campaign. Hardcovers range in price from roughly $20 to $85, but the paperback editions are a more modest $14 to $21 – with Amazon themselves at the top end of that range. The Kindle edition also costs $14. |
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![]() 275. Brazil (Insight Guides)We were very aware that the World Cup and Olympics would have had a strong, even profound, effect on the tourism industry of Brazil and were anxious to minimize that impact in favor of sources that were more pulp-relevant. With that as a secondary criteria in evaluating the travel guides on offer, we have selected two as being the most appropriate for reference by a Pulp GM. The 2014 Insight Guide is the first of these, focusing almost entirely on everything else you can do in Brazil. 392 pages, available in Kindle and Paperback editions – used paperbacks from as little as 6 cents. |
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![]() 276. The Rough Guide to Brazil (8th revised edition) – Clemmy Manzo, Kiki Deere, Stephen Keeling, and Daniel Jacobs“…in-depth coverage of its diverse wildlife, dynamic cities and exhilarating scenery (think lush rainforest, thundering waterfalls and the world’s best beaches)” is how the Rough Guide begins the description of Brazil and their approach to this travel guide. 736 pages – a little thin compared to most Rough Guides, with copies available for as little as $8. |
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![]() 277. Brazil Culture Smart: The essential guide to customs and Culture (2nd edition) – Sandra Branco and Rob WilliamsWe found the product description – which is not at all a recitation of the back cover blurb – to be so evocative that this immediately became our choice for Brazilian Culture. “For many people Brazil conjures up images of football, Carnival and fine coffee, but it is much more than beaches and bossa nova. If you could choose only one word to describe Brazil, it would be diversity. The variety of racial types, lifestyles, wealth, landscape and climate is enormous. “Jeitinho is the Brazilian means of dealing creatively with life’s everyday complications. Literally translated as a “little way”, in practice it means that regardless of the rules or systems in place, where there is a will there has to be a way around them. The jeitinho is so ingrained in daily life that you can see examples everywhere; managing to get a seat when all the places are booked up, traveling with more luggage than is allowed or successfully ordering something that is not on the restaurant menu.” It’s for useful characterization guides to the people and society like this that we recommend cultural guides. What we found so compelling was not just the ubiquitousness of the practice, but that the rest of the society had clearly evolved to accommodate it, making this one fact the key to unlocking government practices, the approach to bureaucracy, law enforcement, shopping, you name it. Of course, we’re sure that this is just the start of the story! This is a pocket book, of 168 pages. Amazon want $7.19 for the Kindle Edition and $8.42 for the paperback, but lists copies through third-party vendors for $1.94 new and $0.01 used, That makes this a bargain. |
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![]() 278. Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil – Nancy Scheper-HughesWhen we read the product description, we weren’t sure whether or not this was a novel. It was an editorial review by Publishers Weekly that clarified matters – this is a depressing, even distressing, report of real conditions in parts of Brazil, where child mortality rates are so high that mothers avoid close attachment to their offspring until infancy is behind them, with attendant impacts on the personalities of the children. What we found surprising is the controversy attributed to the finding that mother love is a luxury permitted only to those whose children have a reasonable expectancy of survival; the same social and cultural phenomenon is well-known to have existed in London before the advent of modern medicine, particularly in terms of the purity of water supplies. We couldn’t help but remember the old adage about those who ignore the lessons of history. It’s much harder to ascribe a particular date range to which this book applies. The study deals with three generations of a single family, but the term ‘generation’ is a loose one. In biological terms, it could be as little as 42 years, though it is probably longer; using one accepted chronological definition, it could be 60 years, and using another, 75. If the entire lifespan of the three generations are included, it could be as much as 50 years more than that, though it probably isn’t. With publication of this edition in 1993, that gives us a probable range of 1918-1933 as the point of commencement of the subjects. Which puts the early part of this study squarely into the pulp era; hence we decided that it was “possibly relevant” and could not be ignored. That said, there are some scathing comments in the more critical reviews who feel that the book, and its reviewers, are generalizing the conditions described to the majority of Brazilians, or even to the majority of the Brazilian poor, and arguably, the subtitle gives that impression, too, a point that one commentator finds particularly appalling. Having seen the impact of sensationalizing other issues, we can’t help but feel these complaints have some validity, confining the applicability of the book to small pockets of society. We therefore present it without endorsement for the reader to decide for themselves whether or not to incorporate it into their thinking. We’re of two minds on the question, ourselves. The book is 614 pages and typical paperback sized. New copies are from $9 and sued from a little over half that. |
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![]() 279. The Mystery of Samba: Popular Music and National Identity in Brazil – Hermano ViannaAnd so, to something altogether more cheery as a subject: the Samba, and its relationship to the Brazilian national identity. “Within Brazil … samba symbolizes the racial and cultural mixture that, since the 1930s, most Brazilians have come to believe defines their unique national identity. But how did Brazil become “the Kingdom of Samba” only a few decades after abolishing slavery in 1888?” As soon as we see “1930s”, we immediately think Pulp. In combination with the history at the start of this subsection, this promises to be especially informative about the cultural landscape and its evolution during the pulp era. 168 pages, paperbacks cost from $1.53 to $28, Kindle for $16.52. Hardcovers are priced outside our acceptable range, but are also available. |
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![]() 280. Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game – Nestor Capoeira“Capoeira is simultaneously a dance, a fight, and a game. Created by the Africans brought to Brazil as slaves beginning in 1500, Capoeira was forbidden by law but survived underground. When open practice was allowed in the 1930s it soon became very popular.” A lot of people who had never heard of Capoeira before would have learned of it when it was featured in a Stargate SG-1 episode. The description quoted is both accurate and misleading; the martial art/combat style was forbidden, but survived underground by masquerading as dance moves. We suspect that the errors have resulted from condensing the story too much, as this book has received nothing but positive reviews since its publication in 2002, and by now factual errors of that magnitude would have been called out by someone. The date of the status change makes this book relevant to the pulp era; as we said earlier, we hear 1920s or 1930s and we think “Pulp”. |
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Books about The Amazon
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![]() 281. Tree Of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon – John HemmingThe world’s largest river feeds a huge tropical rainforest which some believe to be the largest and most complex land-based ecosystem on the planet (we have seen estimates that between 10,000 and 100,000 completely undiscovered species remain hidden, awaiting the revelation of their existence, beneath the green, leafy, umbrella). This book not only tells the ‘story’ of the River and the forest that it nurtures, it tells the stories of those larger-than-life characters who have been ensnared by its charms since Europeans first beheld it in the year 1500, from intrepid explorers, Jesuit evangelists, rubber barons, botanists, fearless advocates for Indian Rights, archaeologists, and anthropologists. Will your PCs be next? |
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![]() 282. Walking the Amazon: 860 days, One Step at a Time – Ed StaffordAnd, speaking of people seduced by the great River, we have the story of Ed Stafford’s epic journey on foot from one mouth of the Amazon (on the Pacific coast of Peru) to its source high in the Andes. Along the way he encounters and outwits dangerous animals, machete-wielding natives, and his own physical and emotional limits. Ed’s descriptions are lush and vivid, and make great flavor text for South American adventures. |
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The Pacific and its IslandsThe Pacific Ocean covers almost a third of the globe, and scattered across it are numerous islands and archipelagos. Settled as much as 50,000 years ago, some by land bridge and some by sea, these then became isolated pockets of individuality. And yet, there are consistencies, consensuses and commonalities that bind many of these islands together just enough for them to be treated uniformly as a subject. |
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Books about The Pacific in general
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![]() 283. Mysteries Of The Deep – compiled by Frank SpaethLots of improbable stuff but useful as reference, an overview of ocean “urban legends”. |
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![]() 284. The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society, Revised Edition – edited by Moshe RapaportThis book “explores the diverse landforms, climates, and ecosystems of the Pacific island region. Multiple chapters, written by leading specialists, cover the environment, history, culture, population, and economy.” “This is the only contemporary text on the Pacific Islands that covers both environment and sociocultural issues and will thus be indispensable for any serious student of the region. Unlike other reviews, it treats the entirety of Oceania (with the exception of Australia) and is well illustrated with numerous photos and maps, including a regional atlas.” 452 pages, published by the University Of Hawaii press, this book only sneaks through our criteria for availability if we don’t look too closely at the $31.51 price of the Kindle Edition. New copies are similar in price at $34+, but used copies are less than half of this, starting at $14.81. |
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![]() 285. The Pacific Islands – Douglas L OliverThe product description for this 477-page book is amongst the most unhelpful we have ever seen. Fortunately, one customer has provided an extremely comprehensive review, enabling it to be evaluated and, ultimately, included. This book is a history of the Pacific Islands by an anthropologist who lived in “the region” for an extended period. “He draws on both his training and personal knowledge to not only describe the different islands and their groupings, but also to analyze the reasons for their cultural, political, and economic differences. There are three main sections. First, the physical geography and evolution of the islands, the settlers now considered indigenous to the region. Second, the impact of Westerners, including “explorers, whalers, traders, missionaries, planters, blackbirders, merchants, and miners”. The third and most substantial section “identifies strong influences on development in the region, and traces how they have affected the history of each particular island group or island.” At the end of the book, after an epilogue discussing how the islands have gained and lost by inclusion in the modern world, is an extensive list of primary sources and suggested reading organized topically, and an index, the combination of which overcomes the absence of footnotes. The text is described as “exceptionally clear and engaging,” especially “for a history book”. Comprehensive, Scholarly, and Comprehensible are a rare combination, and is the reason why there are a total of twenty combinations of format and edition. Used copies start at just 38 cents; new copies are generally much more expensive. Virtually every edition has a significantly different cover, by the way. Paperback: http://amzn.to/2dN469Z |
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![]() 286. A History Of The Pacific Islands (second edition) – Steven Roger FischerThis book only just sneaks under our restrictions for price and availability. This is probably a more up-to-date book than the Oliver suggested above, but it’s also much more expensive, and otherwise covers much of the same ground. If there were more copies of the Oliver available at cheap prices, this would not have made the cut as being redundant in terms of relevant material, As things stand, it’s included here as a backup. |
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![]() 287. Among The Islands: Adventures In The Pacific – Tim FlanneryTim Flannery is credited with discovering more species than Darwin. In this book, he recounts a number of expeditions, from early in his career, through the South Pacific. While he was looking for exotic life-forms, he found much more than he bargained for, in the form of wild, weird places, local taboos, foul weather, dense jungles, and sheer isolation. Note that while there is a Kindle edition, it is the most expensive option when it comes to this book. |
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![]() 288. Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands (5th edition) Earl R. Hinz and Jim HowardWe shouldn’t include this book, technically. It’s a sailing standard, but that’s of limited utility to a pulp GM, and it’s too expensive for our criteria. “Updated Charts and text reflecting changes in regulations and facilities for most countries” – the older text would be more useful for our purposes. New Appendices include “…an extensive list of information sources: cruising guidebooks, important general tourist guides, chart suppliers, and key web sites for the countries covered.” We were about to dismiss it as nothing more than an extensive curiosity, when we noticed mention of that Appendix, which would have justified inclusion in honorable mentions, but not in the main list – but for the sake of due diligence, we checked the customer reviews, and the first of those convinced us that maybe it should be in the main list, after all: “Considering the relatively small market for a book like this, it’s not surprising there’s virtually nothing comparable in print. And Earl’s territory is vast – all of the Pacific islands from Hawaii to New Zealand and north into Micronesia. The numerous maps should prove useful for orientation and could save you a bundle on official charts (although the author and publisher disclaim any responsibility for errors). There’s lots of useful ‘passage planning’, yacht entry, weather, and public holiday information here.” The review then proceeds to list omissions and discrepancies in evenness of coverage (with numerous exclamation marks) before adding, “All that said, these criticisms are mute as there simply isn’t another South Pacific cruising guide to choose from. It’s a credit to Earl Hinz that he has kept this book going through four editions.” The next review was far more critical, but only added to the potential value of the book for our purposes, criticizing it as being surprisingly out of date and covering too large a geographic area. Other reviewers said essentially the same thing, undermining the primary reasons we hesitated to list it in the first place. And so, here it is. |
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Books about Tahiti
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![]() 289. Tahiti Beyond The Postcard: Power Place, and Everyday Life – Miriam KahnTahiti was just another Pacific island that few had ever heard of until Paul Gauguin began finding success with his paintings of native women. Suddenly, Tahiti was the Pacific Paradise in the lay mentality, a reputation it has been able to hold onto ever since, albeit with a steadily-weakening grasp as rivals and challengers have emerged. With the popular perceptions framed and distorted by this reputation, it can be difficult to look “beyond the postcard” and see the reality, but that is exactly what this book attempts to do in its 288 pages. Winner of the 2013 ICAS Book Prize for Social Sciences, copies are now beginning to dry up and the sharks are circulating. The Hardcover costs $70.86 whether used or now, and new copies of the paperback are $28+. There are used paperbacks for about $16, however, and that’s why it can be listed in this collection. |
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Books about Hawaii
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![]() 290. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: HawaiiHawaii has always been one of the challengers to Tahiti’s claim to be Paradise – a claim exerted by others on the island’s behalf, it should be noted – but this is especially true of the 20th century and the latter half thereof in particular, as air fares brought the island group into the reach of ordinary tourists. So popular is it as a destination that most of the individual islands have their own travel guides. This is the best of the few that deal with the group as a whole. |
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![]() 291. Hawaii Off The Beaten Track – Sean Pager and Carrie FrasureThe text of the back cover sounded so typically “touristy” in nature that we almost gave up on this book. Then we noticed the length – 320 pages is unusually lengthy for this sort of ‘hidden gems’ travel book – and saw that several of the reviewers had explicitly stated that despite numerous trips to the US’ island state, this book had revealed attractions to explore that they had never heard of, and talks about the things that the locals do, not tourists. That gave it enough value for inclusion. |
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Books about New GuineaNew Guinea is arguably the last undiscovered country, the most mysterious place on earth. It used to be South America, and before that, central Africa, but those places have been explored (however incompletely) and investigated and are now reasonably well understood. The one takeaway you get from a quick search for books on New Guinea is that the state of exploration there feels more Victorian than anything else – isolated individuals on individual journeys into the (relatively) unknown. Furthermore, an awful lot of what is now known about the island stems from the Japanese invasion and allied counter-invasion of World War II. It might be a false impression, but that’s the impression that is conveyed, nevertheless. The second largest island in the world (excluding Australia), New Guinea has more than 1000 stone-age tribes, each with its own language, customs, and folklore, very little of which has changed over the last 40,000 years. Contemplate that a moment and you will come to appreciate the scale of the problems of trying to condense any information about the island – which is divided into two separate national identities, Papua/West Papua (part of Indonesia) to the west, and Papua New Guinea to the East. |
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![]() 292. Where Masks Still Dance: New Guinea – Chris RainierThere aren’t many photographic albums of New Guinea, and even fewer of them are affordable according to our standards. Over the course of eight trips in ten years, Chris Rainier has documented the lives and rituals of …some of the inhabitants (bearing in mind our prefatory comments). Short essays provide the context, meaning, and adventure behind each of the images. That’s a lot to pack into just 132 pages, even pages that are a little over a foot square. New copies will run you a fairly typical (relative to other photographic books of New Guinea) $45, but there are some used copies from just $10. |
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![]() 293. Lonely Planet Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands – Regis St Louis, Jean-Bernard Carillet, and Dean StanesThere is also not a lot of choice when it comes to travel guides, not that there is much in the way of formal tourism in New Guinea anyway, and much of what there is – diving on wrecks and challenging yourself on the Kokoda trail – stem from World War II, and so won’t be relevant to the pulp GM anyway. The leading customer comment is enlightening: “Very informative resource, but not enough emphasis was on the dangers in PNG. Everything is locked, with armed guards standing in front of hotels in Port Moresby. In Mt. Hagen we were bussed 100 yards from the airport to the place where small Cessna planes took off for our lodges. In Tari, we were bussed, again, with police escort, to the airport and locked behind the gates to protect us against “rascals.” Karawari lodge on Karawari River and the Ambua lodge in the highlands are well described in the book, while the prices are correctly stated. Seems that travel in PNG is not recommended with security problems throughout the country and prices of $800 per night, as quoted for the Ambua lodge. Mailed several cards from the … cruise ship, paying 16 pounds sterling (the ship is British registry), but the cards never arrived [in] the States or to Europe. The ship’s agent was to mail the cards; the … crew would not let us walk to town to visit the post office.” At best, then, this presents an overview. Available in Kindle and Paperback. New copies are from $11 and used from $9, and plentiful. |
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![]() 294. New Guinea and its inhabitants Pt I and II – Alfred Russel WallaceThis is one of the earliest works on the subject, originally published in 1879 and still one of the standard references (!) – a general sketch of the islands and the peculiar life-forms that inhabit it, with the occasional brief discussion of the indigenous tribes. Wallace, the author, is famous as the man who devised the theory of natural selection, a huge contribution to the theory of evolution propounded by Charles Darwin. This book is available in Kindle and Paperback formats and affordable in both. There is next to no difference in price between used and new. |
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![]() 295. First Contact: New Guinea’s Highlanders Encounter The Outside World – Bob Connolly and Robin AndersonThe story of the 1930 encounter between a team of gold prospectors and a civilization completely ignorant of the outside world, as remembered by the participants, with 100 black and white photographs. This is a documentary record of New Guinea in the pulp era. |
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![]() 296. Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea – Kira SalakThis book tells the story of the author’s trek across Papua New Guinea and the physical and cultural terrain that she encountered. Kindle and Paperback. New $9-11, used from less than $4. |
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![]() 297. Where The Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea – Tobias SchneebaumThe author recounts the story of his four years living among the Asmat tribe of New Guinea with the reputation of being ferocious cannibals. As is so often the case, that reputations was misleading, at least during his time there. New copies of this paperback cost about $7 and used copies as little as 80 cents. |
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![]() 298. New Guinea Ceremonies – David GillsonIn 1973, the Gimi tribe were still marking birth, death, initiation, and marriage with the same ceremonies as they had used for the purpose for thousands of years. Today those ceremonies are vanishing forever, obliterated by the onslaught of outside culture and regulatory legal pressures. Gillson’s photographs and accompanying text are the only record in existence for these lost cultural practices. |
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Books about Kuru
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![]() 299. Kuru Sorcery: Disease and Danger in the New Guinea Highlands (2nd edition) – Shirley LindenbaumThe Fore tribe in New Guinea practice ritual cannibalism, and have done so for so long that there is a disease that has evolved to take advantage of the practice, called Kuru. Like a lot of readers, we first became aware of it in Larry Niven’s novel, Dream Park, where it featured strongly in the ‘adventure scenario’ that provided the background to the focal murder/espionage plotline. Traditionally, the men got the best parts of the bodies, while the women and children got the leftovers, including the brains, where the disease resides. This book brings the reader right up to date with the current understanding of the disease and the practices that engender it. This book only sneaks into our tolerance zone on a technicality – while there are used copies available for under $5, there are only about four of them, and then you’re into the $20-30 price range. There is a Kindle edition, but that’s not cheap either, at $18 and change.But there is one, and there are more than 15 used copies, and the cheapest of them is under the $20 threshold, so it makes the list – if you don’t look too closely. |
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Books about Fiji
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![]() 300. Fiji In Pictures – David A BoehmA slim book at only 64 pages and dating from 1976 so printing and photography have come a long way since this was published. In this case, that’s a good thing, as there was a coup in 2006 in Fiji that triggered a period of political instability that lasted until 2014, and the most relevant material that doesn’t explicitly target the 1920s and 30s will be that which predates the change in government. Books this old come in two categories, as a rule of thumb: collectible, and cheap. This book is a member of the latter group. The only problem is that there aren’t enough copies to be listed here, strictly speaking – 10 used paperbacks and 3 used with ‘library binding’. Since this was the only book of its kind that we could find, probably a consequence of that instability, and because price wasn’t the problem, we have decreed an exception. |
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![]() 301. Fiji History and Travel Guide: People, Government, Politics, Culture, Tradition, Tourism – Samuel AshThis 162-page book claims to have it all – but at that length, we suspect it might be a relatively superficial treatment. Nevertheless, this was the closest thing to a culture guide for Fiji that we could locate – cf. comments regarding the shortage of photo books about the country – and it ticks the availability boxes, so it earns a place here. The book description asserts that “a national culture has not emerged”; Mike knows some expatriates from Fiji that would dispute that, arguing that the national cuisine and islander lifestyle form common elements around which other cultural influences express themselves. Not being in a position to argue the point, we choose to move on. |
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![]() 302. The Rough Guide to FijiAt only 256 pages, this is one of the shortest Rough Guides we’ve seen. Customer comments range from praise for the narrative portions of the book and its use in planning your own excursions, to condemnation for being out of date in both prices and some descriptions such as restaurant hours (which don’t both us) and contact information (which might have been more useful). Beyond that, it is judged to be comprehensive and reliable. |
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![]() 303. Insight Pocket Guide FijiThis is described as being more up-to-date and useful in finding new places for even repeat visitors to explore. However, they tend to want to force you into one of their pre-planned itineraries, and there is no page count. Balancing that is the fact that this predates the 2006 coup – which was one of the most significant cultural and political developments in modern Fijian history. In other words, this might turn out to be more useful to the Pulp GM than the Rough Guide, or it might not; we had enough doubts that we are listing it second. New copies are almost $45, but there are used copies for just one cent. |
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Books about the Tuka Movement |
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![]() 304. Neither Cargo nor Cult: Ritual Politics and the Colonial Imagination in Fiji – Martha Kaplan“In the 1880s an oracle priest, Navosavakadua, mobilized Fijians of the hinterlands against the encroachment of both Fijian chiefs and British colonizers. British officials called the movement the Tuka cult, imagining it as a contagious superstition that had to be stopped. Navosavakadua and many of his followers, deemed “dangerous and disaffected natives,” were exiled. Scholars have since made Tuka the standard example of the Pacific cargo cult, describing it as a millenarian movement in which dispossessed islanders sought Western goods by magical means. In this study of colonial and post-colonial Fiji, Martha Kaplan examines the effects of narratives made real and traces a complex history that began neither as a search for cargo, nor as a cult.” The ‘Tuka Movement’ may be 40+ years old by the time of the Pulp Era but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be alive and well (and still forbidden) in backwater pockets or hidden enclaves, perhaps evolving in the hands of a new and more (or less) radical generation. The Pulp potential is obvious. |
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Books about Easter IslandEaster Island is one of the most intensely-studied specks of dirt on the globe, beaten only (perhaps) by the Valley Of The Kings in Egypt and Pompeii. Yet, while those sites are now well explored and understood, Easter Island remains shrouded in mystery and wrapped in controversy. The situation is tailor-made for an enterprising GM to ‘invent his own answers’ and build an adventure around them, using one of these as his starting point. Which one? That’s what makes each GM different… |
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![]() 305. A Companion To Easter Island – James Grant Peterkin“The essential guidebook to this mysterious and enigmatic island, and the only book about Easter Island written by someone who lives there. This guidebook includes the island’s history*, culture and all of its significant archaeological sites.” A fairly non-controversial foundation for the books that follow, this is your basic travel guide to the island, which – contrary to some reports in books about “ancient astronauts” in the 70s – is not uninhabited. This book was published in 2014 (it’s important to keep track of those dates in establishing where the different books stand in relation to each other, in this case) and 170 pages. Available in Kindle and Paperback, and – strictly speaking – too expensive for this list, but the content – including 100 color photos and color maps of both the island and Hanga Roa, the town on the island, have persuaded us to make an exception. 44 of 48 customer reviews gave it five stars, which helped in reaching that decision – and the others gave it 3 or 4 stars out of 5. One goes so far as to describe this as “Rapa Nui For Dummies”. |
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![]() 306. Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island – Thor HeyerdahlThis is a 384 page book which includes 62 full-color photographs, published in 1958 and describing Thor Heyerdahl’s research on the many giant stone statues or ‘moai’ for which Easter Island is famous. This book and the film of the same name went a long way to creating the popular awareness of Easter Island. Most of his evidence has now been refuted by later experts and his methods have been severely criticized for selective use and interpretation of evidence to reach misleading conclusions. Nevertheless, this book is full of anecdotes that could be translated to a pulp setting, and the GM is under no constraints not to decide that Heyerdahl was right, or partially right. His basic theory postulates an advanced race of Peruvians who created and moved the statues, completely unrelated to the later inhabitants. Those “ancient astronaut” writers then connected this notion with places like Machu Picchu and speculated freely from that ‘foundation’. New copies of this book are – astonishingly – still available (albeit costing $92+), but there are 76 used copies between the hardcover and paperback versions for far more modest prices of a few dollars. Bear the publication date in mind when forming expectations. |
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![]() 307. Easter Island: The Mystery Solved – Thor HeyerdahlThis is a 1989 book by the same archaeologist, returning to Easter Island 31 years after his first expedition there, still convinced that he was right, but having modified and updated his theories somewhat in light of later investigations. He relates a history of the island through the eyes of discoverers, and claims to have solved the mystery of how the statues were ‘walked’ to their current resting places. The book contains many color photos and maps. 255 pages. We’re linking to the hardcover and not the paperback because used copies of the more durable book start at one cent, while used copies (and new copies) of the paperback are about $17.25. |
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![]() 308. Easter Island Guide For Inquisitive Minds – Brien FoersterThis 2013 book takes Heyerdahl’s central thesis, updates it again, and then reports it as speculation using language that implies that the author has no doubt and is merely being rhetorically polite to those who doubt the theory. 156 pages, and described by one reviewer as “Academic – difficult to read – tedious, not the best writing, no pictures.” The cynic in us points out that someone would have to actually go there to take pictures. But that might be unworthy of us; we have no evidence that Foerster was not an annual visitor. Kindle and Paperback (both used and new) and all of them reasonably-priced. |
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![]() 309. History’s Greatest Mysteries: Easter Island – Charles River EditorsThis 2013 book – published in the same year as Foerster’s – “comprehensively covers the entire history of Easter Island, including how the first settlers got there” – but one of the controversies is who the first settlers were and when – “explains the theories and mysteries behind the famous megalith statues…” – “…includes pictures of the statues and other important people and places” – and, most usefully, includes a bibliography for further reading. We haven’t read this book but have the impression that the author has decided “we don’t know who’s right so I’ll describe everyone’s theories”. In just 42 pages. And avoiding some of the most difficult questions, like how the statues were transported from the quarry where they were carved. Kindle and paperback. |
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![]() 310. The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island – Terry Hunt and Carlo Lipo…”The prevailing accounts of the island’s history tell a story of self-inflicted devastation: a glaring case of eco-suicide. The island was dominated by a powerful chiefdom that promulgated a cult of statue making, exercising a ruthless hold on the island’s people and rapaciously destroying the environment, cutting down a lush palm forest that once blanketed the island in order to construct contraptions for moving more and more statues, which grew larger and larger. As the population swelled in order to sustain the statue cult, growing well beyond the island’s agricultural capacity, a vicious cycle of warfare broke out between opposing groups, and the culture ultimately suffered a dramatic collapse.” This book attempts to prove this prevailing theory wrong on all counts, turning the native inhabitants into ecological saints from whom we can learn in the modern age. Until we read about that in the third paragraph, we were quite excited about this book too. The book is 256 pages long, and the first review starts by saying “the main text is only 180 pages”, which further dampened our enthusiasm. However, it does provide references of the sort that you can usually only find in a university library, and they do raise serious questions about the assumptions on which that established theory is based, so there is some serious meat on the bones, and this book deserves inclusion in this list on that basis. |
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See also books in the South America/Chile subsection. | ||
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Afterword by Mike:
Blair was going to write this afterword, back before this shelf got split in two. His afterword will appear with the new places shelf that is to follow this one.
One of the great challenges of exotic places in a pulp campaign is making them seem exotic to the players without making them nonsensical. The presence – or absence – of an underlying rational explanation for the way things are is always palpable, whether the cause is realized, or not.
It’s like a monster in D&D – you can always tell, with little more than a glance, which ones have been developed from some rational basis and which are simply collections of abilities and stats without real rhyme or reason.
It’s never enough to simply label something “alien” or “exotic” and think that excuses irrationality. For this reason, basing places, or creatures, on some rational basis is always preferable, and when it comes to places and societies, the easiest approach is to start with something that really exists, enabling you to tap into the sum of knowledge about the source to make your own creation more plausible.
In 1950s (and earlier) cinema, cave-men always wore simple loin-skins or animal hides, spoke in grunts (at most), and threw spears or boulders. The first movie I can think of to break that mold was 2001 A Space Odyssey, in which a primitive man ‘discovers’ the use of animal bones as a club, guided – it seems – by the black monolith into becoming a tool user.
Start from the real and infuse the fantastic as necessary, and you will always produce a better, more believable, more tangible location. But to start from the real, you need to know about it. And that’s where these books come in.
Every location contained in today’s bookshelf is a place that is remote enough, isolated enough, that players can’t be sure what fantastic elements have been introduced by the GM. They don’t know what they will find – and, as with real explorers, that is always exciting.
Next week: The 5th Shelf – The More-Exotic & Stranger Places!
- The Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others) Pt 0: The Front Desk
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 1st Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 2nd Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 3rd Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 4th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 5th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 6th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 7th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 8th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 9th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 10th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 11th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 12th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 13th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 14th Shelf
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