The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia
by Charles Montgomery

#11823

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In a brilliant first book now sold around the world, a young Canadian embarks on a daring journey to confront myth and magic in a forgotten corner of the Pacific.

In 1892, the Bishop of Tasmania set sail for Melanesia with the intent of rescuing islanders from lives of fear, black magic and cannibalism. Over 100 years later, his great grandson, Charles Montgomery, followed the bishop’s route through the South Pacific, seeking out the spirits and myths his missionary forebear had sought to destroy.

Montgomery explored remote shores where gospel and empire never took hold. He rubbed shoulders with barefoot preachers, witch doctors
and gun-toting rebels, only to discover that the pagan spirits were more tenacious than the missionaries had imagined. Melanesians had stirred Jesus and Mary into an already spicy broth of ancestor worship, ghosts, shark gods and magic. Through confrontations with a bizarre cast of characters—the randy ethnographer, the soft-talking assassin, the leper prophet—the journey becomes a debate on the nature of magic, myth and faith, and a metaphor for the transforming power of story.

The Last Heathen marks the debut of an exciting young writer who charts his adventures with passion, insight and grace.

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Quantity:	No item(s) available
Weight:	0.52 kg
Price:	CDN$ 24.95 (US$ 24.28)

ISBN-10:	1553650727
ISBN-13/EAN:	9781553650720
Author:	Charles Montgomery
Publisher:	Douglas & McIntyyre Toronto
Publication Date:	2004
Pages:	313 pp
Size/Dimensions:	6 x 9
Binding:	Paperback

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The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesiaby Charles Montgomery

The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia
by Charles Montgomery