This is a groundbreaking exploration and review of rarely-remembered incidents on Manus and other islands in Papua New Guinea. In 1947 and 1948 there was a series of murders (the "Pondranei Incident" and the "Scott Affair"). The author shows how it became, in the area's confusions following World War II, the cause of major international racial tensions as well as probable injustices. Melanesian, Australian, (Nationalist) Chinese, United States, Philippine, Dutch and Indonesian interests became involved and the author discusses some of the long-lasting consequences which followed. With maps, extensive referencing and index.