Contrary to common perception and belief, most island societies of the Pacific were not isolated, but were connected to other island societies by relations of kinship and marriage, trade and tribute, language and history. Using network models from graph theory, the authors analyse the formation of island empires, the social basis of dialect groups, the emergence of economic and political centres, the evolution and devolution of social stratification and the evolution of kinship terminologies, marriage systems and descent groups from common historical prototypes. The book is at once a unique and important contribution to Oceania studies, anthropology and social network analysis.

"This unique and important work makes fascinating reading and should have a wide audience among both graph theorists and social scientists...and will undoubtedly have a great deal of influence in the further development of analytic methods in social science." Bulletin of the Institute of Combinatorics

"...highly useful to all specialists in Pacific Island anthropology as well as to those with a special methodological interest in network analysis and mathematical models." A. Arno, Choice

"Their approach is particularly valuable to the study of communication in Pacific Island societies and regional systems from a process-oriented perspective..." A.Arno, Choice