In the original dustsheet. Green cloth binding With brown title plate and gilt title on the spine.

F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feel and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

A very fine copy

A Pattern of Islands (also known as We Chose the Islands in American editions) is a memoir by Sir Arthur Grimble recounting his time in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands as a cadet officer and Resident Commissioner between 1914 and 1933. The book, which was first published by John Murray in 1952 and was republished by Eland in 2010, gives an attractive account of island life and colonial rule, based on Grimble’s extensive engagement with the islanders. The book was adapted as a film, Pacific Destiny, released in 1956, and Grimble wrote a sequel, Return to the Islands.

Sir Arthur Francis Grimble, KCMG (Hong Kong, 11 June 1888 – London, 13 December 1956) was a British Colonial Service administrator and writer. After retiring and moving to Britain in 1948 Grimble became a writer and broadcaster. He wrote A Pattern of Islands (London, John Murray 1952, published in the United States as We Chose the Islands) and Return to the Islands (1957), both of which were bestsellers. Pacific Destiny, a film based on his experiences, was released in 1956.[2] Grimble’s scholarly work on Gilbertese culture is covered in Henry Evans Maude’s book Tungaru Traditions: Writings on the Atoll Culture of the Gilbert Islands