"On the Road of the Winds synthesizes the grand sweep of history in the Pacific Islands, beginning with the movement of early people out from Asia more than 40,000 years ago, and tracing the development of myriad indigenous cultures up to the time of European contact in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.".

"In particular Kirch focuses on human ecology and island adaptations, on the complexities of island trading and exchange systems, own voyaging technology and skills, and on the development of intensive economic systems linked to the growth of large populations. He also draws on his own original field research conducted on many islands ranging from the Solomons to Hawai'i as he takes us on an intellectual voyage into the Oceanic past."--BOOK JACKET.