Stones of contention
MANY books about Easter Island are superficial fluff, ranging from breathless pop-archaeology all the way through to outlandish New Age claims of mystic energy fields and alien influence. There is no such flummery in Steven Fischer's new book. As befits the head of the Institute of Polynesian Languages and Literatures in Auckland, New Zealand, he has produced a scholarly and readable account of the island's turbulent history.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Stones of contention”
From the July 23rd 2005 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Pep Guardiola, football’s greatest coach, is in a bind
A serial winner is learning how to lose
The Economist’s word of the year for 2024
The Greeks knew how to talk about politics and power
What do feta, cucumbers and cottage cheese have in common?
Social media and the internet are changing how people cook and relate to food
Germany’s former chancellor sets out to restore her reputation
But her new memoir is unlikely to change her critics’ minds
The best books of 2024, as chosen by The Economist
Readers will never think the same way again about games, horses and spies
What to read to understand Elon Musk
The world’s richest man was shaped by science fiction