A colonial history of the highlands of Papua New Guinea
James Sinclair
This classic, clear-eyed account', writes renowned historian Bill Gammage, is the most comprehensive record of first contact anywhere in the world'. Middle Kingdom chronicles the European 'discovery', exploration, 'pacification' and development of the Papua New Guinea Highlands to 1975, during the decades when PNG was an Australian colony. Jim Sinclair's book goes far beyond sagas of exploration to document the region's development through administration, industry and a growing infrastructure. 'Middle Kingdom is as detailed and well researched as a history should be, but the anecdotes, illustrations, maps and superb index offer an outstanding experience for the reader. It is a book for every location between the coffee table and the university library, a wonderful compendium of a critical time in the history of PNG written by a man who understood the significance of the period in which he was both an important participant and an acute observer.' - Australian
James Sinclair has written widely on aspects of Highland history in a series of books going back to 1966: Behind the Ranges (1966), The Outside Man: Jack Hides of Papua (1969), The Highlanders (1973), Wings of Gold (1978), his notes in Jack O’Neill’s Up From South (1979), Kiap (1981), Last Frontiers: The explorations of Ivan Champion of Papua (1988), To Find a Path Vol. One (1990), The Money Tree (1995), Golden Gateway (1998), Mastamak (2001) and Madang (2005).
