"In 1796, the directors of the London Missionary Society launched their first missionary voyage. On a cold August morning, thirty men, six women and three children set sail aboard the mission ship Duff, bound for the south seas. It was the first British missionary voyage to the Pacific. And, from the Society's point of view, it was a diasaster. In these early confused contacts, the peoples of Tonga, Tahiti and the Marquesas islands often seemed ot have the upper hand. The missionaries were mostly artisans who had been ill-prepared for the complexities of cross-cultural interaction. But they often left behind them detailed records of their efforts. The six authors enrolled in Professor Greg Dening's course in Pacific History at The University of Melbourne in 1978. The focus of the course was Dening's experiement in teaching historical writing from a close engagement with primary sources, combined with group discussion and close collaboration. This book is the result."--Back.