Blackwood set out in 1929 on an 18 month expedition to the islands of Buka and Bougainville, where she studied local life in detail. She would go on to run Oxford's Pitt Rivers museum for two decades. 

The book is in very good condition. There is some bubbling of the cloth on the front cover. External wear is otherwise light. The binding is firm and square, the pages are clean. There is an owner name to the front endpaper. 80 black and white photographic plates, 29 in-text illustrations, folding chart and folding map, all in excellent condition.