Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia

Heyerdahl, for example, was convinced that the early settlers were Incas from South America (a belief built almost exclusively on the presence in Polynesia of the sweet potato, a vegetable indigenous to the Americas). Like a donnish whodunnit (Thompson’s prose is engaging, but distinctly authoritative), the question of Polynesia’s origins is examined through successive historic epochs. Where Sea People really breaks new ground is in Thompson’s ability to unpick not just the evolving (and sometimes revolving) research findings, but the personalities and prejudices of the researchers themselves.

Source: www.spectator.co.uk