A Pattern of Islands

Arthur Grimble was sent to the Gilbert and Ellice islands as a colonial administrator in the twilight of the Edwardian era. He lived there for the next twenty-five years and developed a rare passion for the language, life and landscape of the place. Fortunately his island neighbours, a fascinating cast of fishermen, sorcerers, poets and fighters, began to trust this charming, happy and energetic young man, and shared with him their treasury of stories from the days when warfare was endemic and magic an essential part of everyday life. A Pattern of Islands is a rich and complex cultural history of the dances and legends, rituals, spells and way of life of the islands. It is also a riproaring adventure story. Grimble learns to spear hungry sharks, to negotiate fearsome reefs and, on one terrifying day, is used as human bait to catch a giant squid.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Prologue: Cadet in Embryo 1 Cadet in Action 2 Recruiting Trip 3 First District 4 Native Courts 5 Lagoon Days 6 Strange Interlude 7 Listening and Learning 8 Creation Myth 9 Central Gilberts 10 Tarawa Again 11 Priest and Pagan 12 Southern Gilberts Epilogue: Return of a Stranger

About the Author :
Sir Arthur Grimble was born in Hong Kong in 1888 and educated at Chigwell School and Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1914 he joined the Colonial Service in the Pacific as a Cadet and was posted to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, where he remained in various positions until 1933. He was then transferred to St Vincent, Windward Islands, as Administrator and stayed there until 1936 when he became Governor of the Seychelles Islands and was also knighted. In 1942 he became Governor of the Windward Islands. In 1948 Sir Arthur retired from the Colonial Service and not long after his return to England embarked on a new career. In his leisure he began to jot down narratives of some of his more personal experiences in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, took them to the BBC and discovered that he not only possessed a talent for telling a good story but an admirable broadcasting voice as well. Sir Arthur died in 1956.

Review :
'He is a born raconteur' Daily Mail 'His pages are enlivened with a gleaming humour which enhances the book's overwhelming attraction. A triumph!' Daily Telegraph '... a sympathetic and sensitive observer of the Gilbertese; his understanding of their culture was all the deeper because he was primarily interested in them as people.' Man 'In the 1960s this wonderful travel book - became a favourite with English teachers and a popular prescribed text. Then it disappeared, a classic lost through indifference and neglect. In an age when Bill Bryson and his imitators have prospered, this book, so full of elegant wit, wry self-deprecation and warm insights, deserves to be rediscovered. The story is simple. In 1913 a young Cambridge graduate (Grimble) joined the British colonial service and was sent (partly because he was the only applicant) as a cadet to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands where he stayed until 1933. He loved life in the South Pacific and became an expert on the islands - There is sublime writing here, worthy of P.G. Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh - A timely resuscitation of Grimble's classic work and a reminder that few contemporary travel books begin to approach his humour and elegance.' Sydney Morning Herald 'You can see why these memoirs of a colonial administrator in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands were a hit in 1952. Vivid and amusing, they transport the reader to the equatorial Pacific of a century ago. Arriving in 1914, Grimble introduced cricket to these oceanic fragments where sorcery and poetry remained potent forces. The book retains its magic in 2011 when colonialism is anathema. Grimble, as modest as he is perceptive, fell utterly in love with the islanders, leaning Gilbertese, even allowing himself to be used as bait for catching giant octopus.' The Independent 'First published in 1952, A Pattern of Islands is the memoir of colonial officer Sir Arthur Grimble, who was posted to the remote Gilbert and Ellice islands in the Pacific in 1913 (now called Kiribati). Describing himself as a 'tallish, pinkish, long-nosed young man, fantastically thin-legged and dolefully mild of manner', Grimble writes with great skill and humour about the islanders - the legends, magic, sorcery and ghosts.' The Oldie, October 2011