Darrell T. Tryon is Professor at the Australian National University, Australia.Jean-Michel Charpentier researches at the LACITO (Laboratoire de Langues et Cultures a Tradition Orale), CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Paris, France.

"[...] T&C are to be commended for providing a nice collection of clear maps, a major boon to readers unfamiliar with the web of islands that witnessed the development of the Pacific pidgins. And in general, this is a collection between two covers of data and arguments that ought be of interest to all who seek enlightenment based on concrete and exhaustive empirical evidence on how pidgin and creole languages have arisen, diverged, and stabilized."John McWhorter in: Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 2008 "Nevertheless, this book is a milestone in the historical linguistics of Pacific pidgins and creoles. It is a must not only for every linguist interested in pidgins and creoles and their history, but also for sociolinguists interested in language change and development, as well as for all linguists working in the area!"Gunter Senft in: Linguistics, 44, 1-2006 "Although I knew quitea lot, I also learned quite a lot from reading it."Alfred F. Majewicz in: Linguistic and Oriental Studies from Poznan 6/2004

• Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Present-day Pacific Pidgins2.1. Bislama2.2. Solomon Islands Pijin2.3. Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea)2.4. Pitcairn-Norfolk2.5. Hawaiian Pidgin English2.6. Ngatik Men's Language2.7. Australian Kriol2.8 Broken (Torres Strait)2.9. Nauruan Pidgin English Chapter 3: Previous theories of pidgin development3.1. Genesis and general theory3.1.1. Derek Bickerton: universalist theory and the Bio-program3.1.2. Peter Mühlhäusler: generalist and Pacific pidginist3.2. The genesis of contact languages in Oceania3.2.1. Ross Clark, an exceptional pidginist3.2.2. Roger Keesing and the preponderance of the substrate in the genesis of Pacific pidgins and creoles3.2.3. Tom Dutton and Jakelin Troy: the role of the English target-language in the development of Australian and Pacific pidgins3.2.4. Terry Crowley, Bislama and the genesis of Pacific contact languages Chapter 4: Early days: History of the contacts 1788-1863A. The Australian sceneB. Australia - South Pacific maritime links Chapter 5: The beginnings: The language situation 1788-18635.1. Foreigner Talk and European Contact in Australia and the Pacific5.2. Samples of New South Wales Pidgin 1788-18505.3. New South Wales Pidgin glossary 1788-18505.4. Samples from Pacific states pre-18635.5. Pacific Pidgin glossary 1788-1850 (list of first usages, including Australia and Pacific) Chapter 6: The plantations: History of contacts 1863-19066.1. Introductory6.2. The overseas plantations6.3. The sources of labour6.4. Other Pacific states involved pre-18636.5. Plantations at home Chapter 7: Jargon to pidgin: The language situation 1863-19067.1. Examples from 19th century written sources7.2. 1885 Royal Commission7.3. Queensland Canefields English7.4. The Vanuatu corpus Chapter 8: Colonial days: History of contacts 1906-19758.1. Plantations in the New Hebrides Condominium (Vanuatu)8.2. Papua New Guinea (and Samoa)8.3. Solomon Islands Chapter 9: Differentiation: The language situation 1906-19759.1. Overall situation at the beginning of the 20th Century9.2. New Hebrides (Vanuatu)9.3. Solomon Islands9.4. Papua New Guinea9.5. Bislama, Solomons Pijin and Tok Pisin: differential elements Chapter 10: Today's world: 1975 to the present10.1. Vanuatu10.2. Papua New Guinea (PNG)10.3. Solomon Islands Chapter 11: Conclusion