Length7h 6m
About this audiobook
Imagine a resource-rich homeland invaded by outsiders who see only profit beneath the soil. That is not just the plot of Avatar—it is the true story of Banaba, an island whose people were displaced so foreign powers could mine its phosphate, like Pandora’s unobtanium.
Like the Na’vi, the Banabans faced corporate power backed by empire. Through profoundly unequal bargaining, they surrendered mining rights for a tiny share of the wealth created. Australia, New Zealand, and Britain took the rewards. Mining left Banaba a wasteland of limestone pinnacles and, in 1945, its people were relocated to Rabi Island, Fiji.
The Banabans of Rabi examines the social and economic forces that have kept the Banabans materially poor, while their culture has endured with remarkable richness and resilience.
Essential listening for Australians and New Zealanders confronting their countries' roles; for Fijians living alongside a displaced people; and Brits and Americans interested in empire and exploitation
Audiobook details
GenreBusiness and Economics, History
Length7 hrs 6 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateAug 19, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2CHAPTER 1. AUSTRALIA! IN NEED OF FERTILIZER!
3CHAPTER 2. THE MAKING OF SOUTH PACIFIC SUPERPHOSPHATE
4CHAPTER 3. EARLY PHOSPHATE PROSPECTING DAYS
5CHAPTER 4. TURN OF THE CENTURY GEOPOLITICS
Mostrar todos os capítulosVer menos
6CHAPTER 5. ALBERT ELLIS’S FRUITFUL PROSPECTING, AND MASTERFUL NEGOTIATION
7CHAPTER 6. THE BANABANS, THE RIGHT AND PROPER OWNERS OF OCEAN ISLAND
8CHAPTER 7. BANABAN SOCIAL STRUCTURES
9CHAPTER 8. CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC UTILITY
10CHAPTER 9. OCEAN ISLAND’S UNWANTED MARRIAGE TO THE GILBERT ISLANDS
11CHAPTER 10. TIME TO BARGAIN
12CHAPTER 11. NAURU – OCEAN ISLAND’S NEIGHBOUR
13CHAPTER 12. OCEAN ISLAND AND NAURU DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES
14CHAPTER 13. THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BPC
15CHAPTER 14. BULLY-BOY TACTICS
16CHAPTER 15. 30 AUGUST 1942
17CHAPTER 16. PLANNING A MOVE
18CHAPTER 17. RABI – A PRIVATELY-OWNED ISLAND
19CHAPTER 18. PIONEER DAYS ON RABI
20CHAPTER 19. THE POLITICS OF RABI
21CHAPTER 20. INDEPENDENCE AND COMPENSATION TALKS
22CHAPTER 21. TIME TO GO TO COURT
23CHAPTER 22. INDEPENDENCE FOR KIRIBATI
24CHAPTER 23. KIRIBATI AND OCEAN ISLAND
25CHAPTER 24. BANABANS IN FIJI
26CHAPTER 25. A REFUGEE’S TALE
27CHAPTER 26. FOLLOW THE MONEY
28CHAPTER 27. ECONOMIC INVESTMENTS
29CHAPTER 28. WHAT INVESTMENTS WOULD MAKE SENSE?
30CHAPTER 29. POVERTY ON RABI
31CHAPTER 30. NAURU, RICHER THAN FIJI, RICHER THAN KIRIBATI
32CHAPTER 31. PIGEONHOLING
33CHAPTER 32. THE BANABAN COMMUNITY DEFINED
34CHAPTER 33. CULTURE: THE BANABAN’S SECRET WEAPON
35CHAPTER 34. WHY DON’T THE RABIANS JUST BECOME FIJIAN?
36CHAPTER 35. THE ECONOMICS OF HOPE
37CHAPTER 36. STILL FIGHTING
38CHAPTER 37. MINING AGAIN
39CHAPTER 38. THE EPILOGUE
40CHAPTER 39 - CODA
More from Robert Smith
The Wood beyond the WorldWilliam Morris4h 49m3.7 (3.1K)$4.99 · $0.00
GRACE ROADRobert W. Smith2h 27m$2.99 · $0.00
The Beautiful Beast of a TreeRobert W. Smith1h 45m$2.99
CryptolandRobert Smith3h 5m$4.99 · $0.00
The House of the WolfingsWliiam Morris8h 34m3.8 (617)$14.99 · $0.00
This Is Our HomeRobert W. Smith1h 50m$4.99 · $0.00
The Tuvaluans of KioaRobert W. Smith2h 7m$4.99 · $0.00
Fiji's Solomoni CommunitiesRobert W. Smith2h 49m$4.99 · $0.00
2057Robert W. Smith46m$2.99 · $0.00
Never Split the DifferenceChris Voss, Tahl Raz8h 7m4.4 (277.7K)$26 · $0.00
The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed.Benjamin Graham17h 48m4.3 (191.5K)$40 · $0.00
The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsBen Horowitz7h 57m4.2 (134.3K)$26 · $0.00
Boundaries for LeadersHenry Cloud7h 36m4.3 (3.6K)$26 · $0.00
The Secret Door to SuccessFlorence Scovel Shinn2h 25m4.5 (2.1K)$1.20 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
Big TrustShadé Zahrai, Fayçal Sekkouah8h 36m4.6 (406)$26 · $0.00
The Intelligent Investor Third EditionBenjamin Graham, Jason Zweig20h4.4 (156.6K)$46 · $0.00
Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00
The Antiracist Business BookTrudi Lebrón6h 10m4.6 (275)$17 · $0.00
The FormulaJoshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg10h 41m4.4 (6.9K)$29 · $0.00
Let Them LeadJohn U. Bacon7h 10m4.5 (1.4K)$24 · $0.00
Secrets of the Millionaire MindT. Harv Eker5h 11m4.4 (301.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Person You Mean to BeDolly Chugh9h 6m4.4 (7.2K)$29 · $0.00
BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Everyday DharmaSuneel Gupta5h 2m4.5 (761)$20 · $0.00
Let's Talk Mutual FundsMonika Halan7h 5m4.4 (2.4K)$16 · $0.00
Secret PowerDwight Lyman Moody3h 7m4.4 (1.4K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Law of Success in Sixteen LessonsNapoleon Hill2h 39m4.4 (17.2K)$2 · $0.00
Barbarians at the GateBryan Burrough, John Helyar3h 3m4.4 (52.7K)$18 · $0.00
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789 (Annotated)Alexis de Tocqueville17h 25m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
All the Gallant MenDonald Stratton, Ken Gire5h 55m4.6 (11.8K)$24 · $0.00
Saint Joan (Annotated)George Bernard Shaw6h 20m4.6 (1.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Medgar and MyrlieJoy-Ann Reid10h 52m4.5 (27.8K)$29 · $0.00
The History of the Peloponnesian War (Annotated)Thucydides24h 3m4.6 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Where the Birds Never SingJack Sacco10h 31m4.6 (3.8K)$29 · $0.00
Serviceman J: The Untold Story of an NZSAS SoldierJamie Pennell5h 51m4.6 (452)$24 · $0.00
You may also like
Cadillac Desert, Revised and Updated EditionMarc Reisner27h 56m4.4 (13.6K)$30
A Wolf Called RomeoNick Jans9h 49m4.3 (6.3K)$29 · $0.00
A Crack in the Edge of the WorldSimon Winchester12h 31m4.0 (10.6K)$33 · $0.00
The FirmDuff McDonald11h 18m4.0 (4.2K)$23 · $0.00
The Great HungerCecil Woodham-Smith18h 23m4.3 (2.3K)$28
The Amur RiverColin Thubron10h 13m4.1 (1.8K)$29 · $0.00
Walking Purchase: The Lenape, the Fraud, and the Road WestMarcus Aldridge Bennett3h 24m$6
History of the United States During Thomas Jefferson's Administrations (All 4 Volumes) (Annotated)Henry Adams53h 1m$2 · $0.00
The Congo and Coasts of AfricaRichard Harding Davis2h 59m4.1 (14)$2 · $0.00
Tides of History: The Fall of Rome, Vol. 1Patrick Wyman5h 27m4.7 (40)$20
THE BIG DITCHDorothy Louise Stanhope6h$7 · $0.00
Iron RoadPatrick Donnelly Frost5h 24m$10 · $0.00
Westward ExpansionSantiago Machain4h 34m$19 · $0.00
Travels in the interior of BrazilJohn Mawe13h 39m4.0 (36)$1 · $0.00
The Mayflower Voyage: Premium Edition - 4 Book CollectionWilliam Bradford, Azel Ames, Bureau of Military and Civic Achievement29h 19m$1 · $0.00
Chicago and the Old Northwest, 1673-1835Milo Milton Quaife19h 24m$1 · $0.00
The Jesuits, 1534-1921 (Annotated)Thomas J. Campbell23h 42m4.3 (37)$1.99 · $0.00
Ninety Million Acres: The Dawes Act and the Theft of Indian LandDaniel R. Whitfield4h 47m$6
The Indian Council in the Valley of the Walla-Walla, 1855Lawrence Kip1h 28m$1 · $0.00
Of Plymouth Plantation: Historical Account (Annotated)William Bradford18h 4m4.5 (239)$2 · $0.00