Jo Anne Van Tilburg

I first heard about this in the bibliography of "Guns, Germs and Steel", Jared Diamond raved about it. It is the life story of a wealthy Victorian-era English Quaker woman who pioneered research of Easter Island - in those days wealthy aristocrats did research trips as much as for entertainment as scholarly profession, financing their own ways. Her life turns out to be very interesting and Tilburg does an excellent job, she was almost completely unknown before this book. I learned a lot about Easter Island ethnography, as well as the ethnography of 19th century English Quaker families, and the changes they went through in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tilburg's greatest gift is to show historical connections and continuity in a romantic manner. Memorable, incredibly well researched (60+ pages of end-notes), personal and honest.… (mehr)