an intellegent observation of historical events and the ensuing catastrophy brought forward to the twenty first century.

in a nut shell, captain bligh sails into the south pacific when his crew of mutineers overtake his ship then subsequently send him packing back to england. the mutineers refuse to return, eventually sailing around paradise until they land on the rock now known as pitcairn with some of the natives and their women.

murder, rape and terror ensues, as the bountymen serial criminals at best, kill all the natives, then share the woman amongst themselves. being the isolated island that it is, no law, no infusion of indigenous pacific culture, and with no other intellegent additions to the community, the island lapses into a cult of spousal abuse, serial rape and serial pedofilia.

eventually english law comes to the rescue as a few brave individuals risk friendship and familial relationship, privacy, and embarrassment when they bring horrific story's to the public.

the culprits receive litte jail time as the sentensing handed down would have been considered laughable had it been anywhere else.

a dynamic look into current south pacific history. ( )

Captivating story of the sexual abuse trials and the back stories of Pitcairn Island and the antecedants of Fletcher Christian and his men. ( )

Interesting to read about the underbelly of an Island in the South Pacific that has been the subject of such romanticized notions.
I did not care for the writing style which simply related the facts and did not seem to delve into the history of the Island and why it evolved into a pedophiles dream. There are tantilizing tidbits of information mentioned but not follow up - such as the illegitimate birth rate was high. How high? What dates? Who was involved? I also found it hard to keep track of who was who. Too many names with not much depth.
However, the last chapter really tied everything together - how the history of the island culture is manifest today and through past generations. ( )

A detailed, horrifying and compulsively readable expose of the legacy of sexual abuse hiding behind Pitcairn Island's mystique. The author was one of the six reporters who was allowed to stay on the island and cover the rape trials of some of the society's most prominent men. The investigations barely scratched the surface; just about every girl who grew up on Pitcairn for the past several decades, and perhaps going back into the nineteenth century, was raped by one or more men or boys. The author does a good job explaining the uniqueness of Pitcairn society and how it allowed sex abuse to flourish almost openly for so long without any of the islanders taking steps to stop it. HIGHLY recommended. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/... ( )