In The Happy Isles of Oceania - Paddling the Pacific, the perpetually morose Paul Theroux kayaks to the 'pleasant and feckless' islands of Polynesia where his usual strain of cynicism takes the shine off paradise.In Search of Tusitala - Travels in the Pacific after Robert Louis Stevenson by Gavin Bell retraces the principal South Sea voyages of the Scottish writer.Lagaga - A Short History of Western Samoa by Malama Meleisea is the most comprehensive work on the history of independent Samoa. It includes information on older Samoan culture as well as facts about contemporary independent Samoa.A Dream of Islands by Gavan Daws deals with the lives and perspectives of island-inspired authors and artists including Robert Louis Stevenson.Aggie Grey of Samoa by Nelson Eustis is a biography of the 'first lady of Samoa' and includes an evocative account of Samoa at the turn of the century.The Trembling of a Leaf by Somerset Maugham is a collection of short stories set in the South Pacific. One of his most famous, Rain, is the definitive story about isolated lonely outposts, blowsy women, and missionaries falling from grace.