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Morton's account of childhood in the Kingdom of Tonga is rich in ethnographic detail and fills a conspicuous gap in the literature of Polynesian ethnology. Comparisons with studies of the interactive social and psychological processes involved in achieving personhood in related societies, e.g., Samoa, lend depth to the ethnography and extend the possibility of structural analysis of transformations within the larger Polynesian cultural system. Among several topics of general interest and concern, Morton discusses physical punishment and sanctioned violence in childrearing. She places the issue in historical context, using early accounts to address the question of precontact practices and the possible role of European influences, and she comments also on the wider patterns of violence in adult arenas of Tonga culture. Related analysis explores the socialization of emotion and the connections among anger, self-control, laughter, and social control. The abrupt withdrawal of indulgence between early and late childhood, often noted as a theme in Polynesian socialization, is present in Tonga, but Morton provides a balanced account showing also the continuities that link the stages of childhood and adult life. Upper-division undergraduates and above. A. Arno University of Hawaii at Manoa