Australia Books

This lovely book contains a number of patterns, each of which uses a range of different techniques for tatting with beads. The book starts out by covering the range of ways in which beads can be added to tatting, how to get beads onto the thread, different types of beads to use and the birthstones and items associated with birthdays and anniversaries. She also provides a list of abbreviations and descriptions of special techniques such as block tatting and split ring work, and an interesting history appears in the introduction.

The book contains a selection of 17 patterns which are fully illustrated with diagrams and described also in text. Some interesting techniques are covered such as a braid which uses three pairs of tatting shuttles or three needles, a lovely bridal coronet which is encrusted with beads, a free style picture and a large doily.

This is an attractive volume which will be easy to carry around because it is close to the size of an A5 piece of paper. It is also sold under the title of "Tatting Adventures with Beads, Shuttle and Needle".

France is in crisis. A right-wing general with leanings towards neo-Nazism is calling on the French people to rise up against immigrants. Rioting breaks out in cities, but is it really what it seems? Is someone engineering the crisis to change French leadership? Then to top it all, the French President and his ministers are killed when their TGV train is firebombed on a bridge and plunges into an abyss. Who can save France, and ultimately the stability of Europe? Rene Lasalle, head of French counterespionage sends for Britain's best SIS agents Tweed, Paula Grey and international foreign correspondent Bob Newman, along with trusty rifleman Marler. Can they stop the general in time before tanks roll on Paris armed with chemical artillery? Who is the mysterious assassin Manteau, who is blackmailing the general into paying him extortionate sums for carrying out orders? This book is a real page-turner! And of course, Tweed and his motley crew get to drink loads of wine and champagne in between drawing their enemies out into the open and cheating death! This is what makes a Colin Forbes novel worthwhile. Don't miss this one!

Highly recommended, there is an excellent chance that this book is the one for which you have been searching. Written by two Australian veterans of the war in Vietnam and standing as a tribute to all who served in that conflict, Crossfire is a unique look at the way in which a specialized Australian infantry platoon operated as a reconnaissance unit in the field. While the style of writing is at once both raw and gritty, it is nonetheless a book with a great deal of soul. It tells the story of how a bunch of blokes at the sharp end, fought (and in some cases, died) in what became Australia's longest and most divisive war. Like so many "Diggers" who went before them, they did their duty and more. They laughed together, felt pain and sometimes cried together, but throughout, maintained that very Australian characteristic in the face of adversity: a stoic determination to see the job done, no matter what.

Crossfire is much more than just another war story, however. It goes beyond the jungle-bashing and the contacts and the firefights; beyond the heat and the sweat and the sometimes gut-wrenching fear that were the essence of the grunt's war in Vietnam. The authors have adopted a mode of presentation that works extremely well and complements the theme of the main narrative. Interwoven with the exploits of the Reconnaissance Platoon as it sought to come to grips with its task in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam, is a separate but complementary story focused on the present. It looks briefly at a small group of veterans, some thirty years after the event, as they seek a kind of cathartic release while camping and hiking in the Flinders Ranges, that area of rugged but serene, natural beauty in "outback" South Australia.

Based on incidents and events that actually occurred, Crossfire not only holds the interest all the way, but in many places reads like a best-selling novel. Indeed, it is one of those rare books, which once started, is entirely difficult to put down. This is a very worthy addition to the genre, and it is a credit to Peter Haran and Robert Kearney that they have captured so faithfully what it was to be in action on the ground in Vietnam. If you are a veteran of the Vietnam War, then in a very real sense the incidents and events portrayed in the book will have an uncanny knack of taking you back there. It will take you back to another time and another place - to a conflict and an era that you have known intimately, and which will forever feature in the history of the Australian soldier at war. If you are not a veteran and you read no other book on the subject, you must read this one. As Lieutenant General Peter Cosgrove, Chief of the Australian Army, says in the foreword to Crossfire: "Read this story. Read about these Australians. They are so ordinary but so extraordinary - they are heroes."

Most Catholics, and the world at large, recognize the San Damiano crucifix, even if they don't know what to call it. This little booklet (only 32 pages) examines the icon on the cross, section by section and describes the possible meanings locked within the picture.

Did you know that Mary the Mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalen are both next to Jesus on this crucifix and both stike similar poses of grief?

Did you know that the author might have included a small self-portrait within the painting?

Did you know the original crucifix is 6'10" tall?

Did you know this MIGHT not be a depiction of Jesus at his crucifixion, but rather at his ascension?

These and many other thoughts were new to me. I'm going to have to go exchange my crucifix for a larger one that is easier to meditate upon!

This book, plus the next two in the trilogy, are fantastic. They combine love, hate, betrayal and revenge in a story of two families that are linked by blood and circumstances that neither family can control. The strong links between Indigenous Australians and their spirituality was well researched and written, and it was good to read an accurate account of the mounted police and their duties, however disturbing most of it was. I highly recommend this trilogy by a very talented writer as I was left moved both as a reader and an Australian.

This book was a god-send. I bought it after my baby was born, and wish I had gotten it before. I had a very difficult baby who had major dramas sleeping. This book offered lots of very helpful advice, and helped debunk some of the myths out there.

This book is a must read for any expectant parents.

The Cultivation Of Whiteness: Science, Health, And Racial Destiny in Australia is a region-specific, college-level collection which is strong in anthropology and which Australian or multicultural studies will find to be a revealing survey of science and racial destiny. In 19th century Australia doctors were the main commentators on race and biological differences - this examines their perceptions of racism and differences between whites and other cultures, using the foundation of science and medicine as a basis for surveying and even experimenting upon other peoples. An eye-opening set of revelations.

The book is great: just what I was looking for. The direct text is what the overseas visitor or migrant need to be presented about this amazing country

This is one the funniest and most exciting books I've read in a long time. From start to finish you entangled in a web of humour, luck, suspense and drama.

The main character, Max, is bought to life so well by the author. You live and breathe his every move. You follow him around from the smoggy mists of a North London hospital to the beautiful countryside of England to outback of Austrailia. Don't ask how he does it because Max wouldn't know !

I cann't wait for the sequal or even the film.

Good effort Steve Emecz for your first book.

My kids thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have read it many times ove and we still enjoy it. It is the story of Cuthbert, an only child, until his mummy brings home "four darling baby girls". Cuthbert has to learn to adapt to his new environment! He learns that his mummy still loves him, even though he shares her with 4 sisters!. The pictures are superb. The text is well written. A fun book for learning about siblings.