Australia Books

Imran Khan is perhaps one of the few mega stars in sports who are equally at home with a pen or a cricket bat. The book tells us about his experiences as a young lad in the 70's, his encounters with the Carribbean fast bowlers and how they terriorized his entire team including himself. Imran Khan is perhaps the only cricketing legend who does not indulge in self praise and this can be easily confirmed from this book; he dodges the most crucial subject i.e how he transformed a bunch of losers into a potent force which could take take on any team in the world on any ground. He however breaks a lot of idols in the book which so far have been passionately revered in cricket.

Anyone remotely interested in cricket and how it is played and why it is all about mental grit and inner toughness and not just skill and dexterity should consider "all round view" a text book.

A candid, no holds barred view of cricket especially as it pertains to Pakistan. Describes the greatness and pettiness of this game and the politics that surround it. We probably won't see a leader like Imran on the cricket field for a long time to come, but maybe he can become Pakistan's PM one day.

It's a very interesting and descriptive book on Imran's spectacular career and his road to glory. Leader's like this bring revolutions and change the face of earth.

LAHORI

Imran Khan, writes about his cricketing career.Besides that we can also read his veiws on a vide range of topics, including marriage , Pakistani culture as well as politics. Once I picked the book up I COULD NOT put it down. Highly recommended for the cricket fan.

It is so enjoyable to see your culture, with all its blind spots and weird traditions, through someone else's eyes. The author looks and listens with keen attention and wry wit, and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable read. You will learn about both Aussies and Americans in this delightful book, laughing at her funny observations, comical bafflement, and witty style.

People could be mistaken for thinking that Australia and America have so much in common....but it is so far from the truth. As I was reading the book I laughed out loud at situations the author was describing....was she somehow spying on my life? In true Australian style we are able to laugh at ourselves and our differences. Thanks Anne for a truly enjoyable reading experience. I gave it to an American friend to read and it opened her eyes to the challenges we face between our cultures too.

So, you're an American planning to visit Australia or suddenly exporting yourself down under. Or you're an Aussie thinking of coming to America. Read this witty book before you step into the thick of our cultures' differences. I wish I had laughed and pondered my way through this book before my first trip to Australia.

This book is most likely the best book that I have never read. I know the author quite well, and am proud of her accomplishments, who knows why she told me that I could write her a review on Amazon? The only complaint that I have about her book is that it does not properly disclose the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, or how prevalent this "syrup" is in America, as an Australian visiting this country, likely naive and bushy-eyed, they will have no idea of the detrimental effects! I am quite outraged by this omission, but none the less, I'm sure it was a great book. Oh, and I'm only guessing that she omitted this.

This book offers a fantastic opportunity to view some of Peter Lik's best known work - panoramic images of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Twelve Apostles, the Great Barrier Reef, and other Australian icons. To view the full range of Peter's books and posters visit PortraitAustralia.com.au

If you want to go or have ever been to Australia this is a must have book. It will intise you to visit or will remind you of all the natural beauty this amazing country has to offer. Peter Lik is a truley amazing photographer I have been to his galleries in Cairnes and Port Douglas in Australia and his work is breath taking. www.peterlik.com Also you can see what an amazing deal this is here at Amazon.com, this book usually retails for $70 US. Wonderful Masterpiece Peter!!

i just got this book as a present, and we're getting ready to go. very reminiscent of galen rowell's work (high praise) with lots of dawn/evening atmospherics. but this one is full of double page panoramics - nothing is lost in the crease - of the incredible australian landscape. get another book if you want people, animals or cities.

These are photographs of aspects of this vast country that many Australians never see. Contrast the reds of the desert with the greens of the rainforest. The magnificence of Uluru with the tranquillity of Dove Lake. The ageless beauty of the rain forest with the beauty of our beaches.

Australia is a beautiful place. This collection of photographs by Peter Lik makes that beauty more accessible to all of us.

Highly recommended to those interested in images of Australia.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I've been traveling through Australia on expedition (mostly in the Simpson Desert) and this book features awesome panoramic photography throughout the continent. Unfortunately, the references to "God" once again muddy its pages. You know what to do, though: get out that permanent marker, careful to keep the real beauty unscathed.

In this age of immense suburban sprawl and the drive by many to pollute this world as much as possible, we can be reminded of some of the beautiful places that still exist. This book is an example and what a terrific book it is. It's absolutely appalling one would take a permanent marker to this book to black out God's glorious name. He did, afterall, create this place that we all share as our home. God created it for us to enjoy and we ought to praise Him for that everyday... not black out His name.

Ken Duncan has managed to capture Australia beautifully. This is an an excellent buy for those who appreciate landscape photography.

This is a beautiful book of a gifted photographer. Just like the "America Wide" this book offers much joy and peace in browsing through its pages. Thanks God for giving Ken such talent and skills.

This was the first book I had read that really opened my eyes to the public manipulation a government was capable of. Cawthorne pulls facts together from very credible sources and uses them to weave cohesive arguments that are difficult to refute. This book should be more widely read, and portions of it should be used in Civics classes across the United States to teach our youth to be more objective about political motivations.
If any fault can be found with the book, it's the amount of detail it provides. Though, given the prevailing public "knowledge" of American POW's, it serves the author well to support his statements from many angles.

This was the first book I had read that really opened my eyes to the public manipulation a government was capable of. Cawthorne pulls facts together from very credible sources and uses them to weave cohesive arguments that are difficult to refute. This book should be more widely read, and portions of it should be used in Civics classes across the United States to teach our youth to be more objective about political motivations.

If any fault can be found with the book, it's the amount of detail it provides. Though, given the prevailing public "knowledge" of American POW's, it serves the author well to support his statements from many angles.

I have read Nigals book many times, more for my on information then anything. This book gives a definitive explantion and reasons behind why the U.S. Government refuses to deal with LIVE POWs rather then the remains of MIAs.

It is well researched and has given hope that the Vitnamese will one day come forward with men that I believe and KNOW are still under supervision by their captors. I could write more on this subject as I was one Nigal's informers.

I have a lot of veteran friends who worked on this POW issue, and I mean by that, attempting rescues of men in Laotian prison camps toward the end of the war. By defining the VN war solely within its own borders, we not only lost this conflict, but left behind many Americans who we would not recognize that were somewhere else than Vietnam. Then, the Paris "Peace" Accords really sealed their fate. Nixon and Kissinger should have been shown with their pants down to their ankles for their miserable "accomplishments" to end the war. The North Vietnamese let us bring our remaining troops home, then attacked; Thieu knew it was going to happen.
Nigel Cawthorne shows what happened to South Vietnam and our POW's once they got rid of the pesky Americans, who had been an intrusion for 25 years, after they demolished the French. We have yet to respect this enemy, and also all our vets who worked so hard in this hopeless fracas. The most amazing part of the book to was about the 3.25 billion dollars of reparations that Nixon agreed to, on White House stationary; that was the bargaining chip to bring these poor souls home. We violated them as well as ourselves by the bozo's we had in the Nixon Administration, and are still paying the price, both at home and overseas in IndoChina. I am glad that I never got shot down and suffered the fate of our military men who were sadly betrayed by this country and continue to be so. More and more, the experiences I portray in OUTLAWS IN VIETNAM were thankfully the only ones I still have to report...!

TAHIR SHAH is without doubt the most original travel writer of his generation... never before have I been so touched by, and become so involved in, a book. I am struck dumb by Shah's genius.

Read this book.

A fast gallop through the Indian sub-continent, Africa and South America, with a cast of eccentric characters perhaps unprecidented in modern travel writing. It put me in mind of Peter Flemming for the sheer pace and sense of adventure. Yet it was a hundred times funnier. Gives Redmond O'Hanlon a run for his money as the Number 1 funny travel writer at work today. Also, I notice it is easy to find in the UK, available in an Orion paperback, not out of print at all!

Tahir Shah devises a get rich quick scheme which brings him to India to seek his fortune. He also has other interests namely the mysterious Gond people who may have walked the earth when the earth was one joined land mass. However this book is so much more than that. India \ Africa \ South America are all experienced and observed from a most interesting angle. The author roughs it al the way. There are many side-splitting moments in this book. There is youth and vivacity in the words that flow. Tahir Shah is clearly in love with life. Incidentally while this book is truly excellent, his latest effort "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is I believe a masterpiece. You will not be disappointed in either book.

Beyond the Devil's Teeth, by Tahir Shah,is the funniest book of the year. Traces a haphazard route through India, Africa and South America, in search of GONDWANALAND. From sentece one of page one you can't put the thing down! Read it and split your sides with laughing

Kerry Greenwood's BLOOD AND CIRCUSES presents a Phryne Fisher mystery in telling of a bored woman who turns into an undercover detective who must abandon her entire life to investigate strange happenings at a local circus where animals have been poisoned and acts threatened.

First Sentence: Mrs. Witherspoon, widow of uncertain years and theatrical background, was taking tea in her refined house for paying gentlefolk in Brusnwick Street, Fitzroy.

Wealthy private investigator Phryne is bored until she is approached by Samson the strong man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman to investigate what started as a series of accidents at the circus. With one of the circus members now dead, Phryne gives up her life of luxury and her friends to go undercover as a trick rider with the circus.

There is a lot more going on between the covers of this book than first appears. Greenwood knows how to take diverse, interesting characters and build a great story around them with the mystery almost being secondary. Here we have the murder of an hermaphrodite who was the love of both a man and a woman. We are introduced to the hierarchy of the circus and Phryne's feelings of vulnerability and loneliness. There is a ex-con who doesn't know whether she has committed murder but who finds a bit of her soul in helping an alcoholic go through withdrawal. There is sex, there is profanity; this is not your average cozy. What it is is a great character-driven story with a unique character.

In Australia a concerned carnival worker Alan Lee asks his former lover Phryne Fisher to determine who is sabotaging Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show; Phryne agrees to investigate. The latest incident involved poisoning a horse, which led to the injury of a trick rider. This enables the socialite detective to go undercover as a trick rider since she is excellent with horses though she will need training to perform the act.

At the same time that Phryne joins the big top, a former employee of Farrell's Circus, hermaphrodite Mr. Christopher is found dead in a Melbourne rooming house. The police arrest another former performer Miss Parkes, who was just released from prison. However, Melbourne Constable Tommy Harris and Detective Inspector Robinson believe she did not commit this homicide. As they make further inquiries, Robinson nebulously connects a gangland murder to the circus incidents and the Christopher killing. Now he thinks his friend Phryne is in jeopardy even as she and one of the clowns share a tryst while she risks her life seeking out the culprit.

As in her previous adventures, Phryne continues to defy the dictates of late 1920s Australian society that demand a single women behave in a certain way; this time she has an affair with a clown. Her investigation is made fresh by the circus and its performers and other employees as they bring uniqueness to the tale. The support cast is very well developed, especially at the circus, the socialite's investigation and the police procedural. Series fans will appreciate this delightful historical whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Kylee J. Yeaman for Reader Views (2/07)

"Blood and Circuses" is set in 1920's Australia. Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee) is asked by some `carnie' friends of hers to help solve some suspicious happenings at Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show (the circus that their carnival trails). The final incident that pushes these friends to ask Phryne for her help is when one of the carnival `freaks' is murdered in his boardinghouse.

Phryne is a terrific character. She's witty, down to earth; unlike some of the other characters in the book. Lizard Elsie is a crack up! There are 20's era gangsters, a strongman, trick riders, a magician, acrobats, clowns, so many fabulous people to meet in the circus and the carnival.

Kerry Greenwood's writing is wonderful. I was transported to 1920's Australia through her words. It really remind me of the feeling I get while reading an Agatha Christie mystery, but being that the crime solver is a woman, it brought Miss Jane Marple to mind more so than Hercule Poirot. "Phryne looked around her dining room, which hung with pale damask. ... On the wall, opposite the big windows which opened onto her pocket-handkerchief sized front garden, hung seven oil sketched of dancing acrobats. ... Usually they refreshed her spirit. Today they looked as animated as dolls."

One of my very favorite scenes is about three-fourths of the way the way through "Blood and Circuses." It is a scene between Lizard Elsie and Miss Parkes (formerly of the circus) in their shared jail cell. Miss Parkes had been in a deep depression; not knowing whether or not you killed someone will do that to you. When Elsie gets sick and Miss Parkes takes care of her for several hours, Miss Parkes seems to realize that there are people who need/care for her and she comes around. We all need to be needed.

This book is for anyone who enjoys a nice mystery. It's just the right length (208 pages) for a weekend spent indoors or at the beach. There are one or two semi-racy scenes and some mild violence so I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 13. I'm already planning on loaning this book to my mother for her to enjoy.

I hope that you pick up "Blood and Circuses" by Kerry Greenwood and enjoy it as much as I did.

This is simply the most beautiful collection of male nude art photography I have seen! the lighting, the compositions, the special beauty of the men which the photographer draws out, the fine balance between eroticism sensuality..and i haven't seen Paul Freeman's other books yet! Move over Bruce Weber"

The photo on the cover should tell a potential reader/buyer what he can expect between the covers, so to speak. What you will discover is a plethora of handsome men who will send your mind into a fantasy world that must, by its very nature, remain yours. The book is great.

In the January 2004 issue of "Blue", the Australian magazine where Paul Freeman is decribed as the magazine's "most featured" photographer, the artist says that he has always wanted to keep some link with classical art. "Sort of like a meat pie inside the Sistine Chapel." Most of these models Michelangelo would have loved, and they to a man are meat pies. There is not a wimp or effeminate-- and it's okay if one is-- man in this collection of over 200 photographs. These men are rugged, hairy, beefy, muscular, tattooed, pierced, sweaty, wet and muddy. Some of them are a bit stylized and wearing gladiator garb. Many of them are at the beach-- Bondi perhaps--there are some beautiful portraits here. And no model has his genitalia airbrushed.

In his brief introduction Mr. Freeman says that as a youngster he was taken by the image of the suffering Saint Sebastian (check out the portrait on page 174 of Garth Elliot 2) and that present day influences are Bruce Weber and Herb Ritts (speaking of airbrushing photographs). I think many of his models look more like some of the work of Jim French as well as Caravaggio-- whom he acknowledges as an inspiration-- and Michelangelo.

Many of these men are photographed as many as 6, 7 or 8 times so you will probably get to see a lot of your favorites. Where to begin-- the man on page 11 (beautiful shadows), the outrageous Grant Perry (page 24 and 7 more photos), the hairy barrel chested Igor Praporshchikov on page 55, Black Angel No. 4 on page 73, Mat Obelisk on pages 76 and 77-- perfect exposure and lighting--the Gladiator on page 103 that, thank goodness, shows up again and again-- Gladiator 4 on page 126-- this is an unusal and most flattering pose-- the portrait of Ryan Kwanten on page 154, Kane 1 and 1 (pages 158 and 159-- the list goes on and on. The only photographs I don't care for are the ones with a snake wrapped around the model. Perhaps it's the Garden of Eden story that turns most of us off to these kinds of photographs. Richard Avedon did the snake photographs better years ago anyway.

If the test for a book of photographs is whether or not you return to it again and again, then BONDI CLASSIC gets an A+. In its own way this book is just as hot as Tom Bianchi's ON THE COUCH series. If you can only buy one book of this kind this year, this one's the one. Oh, go ahead; treat yourself and buy Bianchi's also.

For those looking for the best of the books of male photography, this portfolio by Paul Freeman deserves a place high on the list. Different photographers approach the male nude with different agendas: some try for classic poses, some go for spontaneous moods, some keep the 'privates' in the shadows while others place the focus there, some costume, some try for natural effects. Freeman searches (and definitely finds!) subjects who are quintessentially masculine Men. And this collection should equally engage the interest of women as of the ready-made male population.

Freeman uses his fellow countrymen (Australia) to show us the virile attitude of the untamed. These 'models' are buff, have body decor from piercing or ink, know how to make the partially clothed form even more sensuous that the fully nude form (although there is a lot of that, too), and in general creates photographs that are well conceived and executed and presented in a superb format. There are portraits solo and in tandem. This is a collection that will find a wide audience. Recommended for the novice and the connoisseur collector alike! Grady Harp, December 05

A 132-year dominance in anything isn't likely to go quietly and the 1982 America's cup was no different. The American tradition of cut-throat-competitive yacht racing regularly produced America's cup defenders of the highest caliber and it was a major step to even grasp the magnitude of what really needed to be done in order to have a fighting chance at winning the race, let alone to actually carry it out. However, one man accomplished exactly that, he did it in style, and we are most fortunate to have this tome "printed in lightning bolts" as the foreword author, Richard Bach, puts it.

At the heart of it, the book is about much more than winning a boat race (although, to be fair, a very large portion of the book covers exactly that). It is the story of a man and his single-minded pursuit of his dream. The story grips the reader and draws you into the life of Bertrand. It puts you right there, standing right beside him at the helm through every mishap and expertly executed maneuver. It also takes tells the story away from the water, the stories of the exceptional men with whom he sailed, as well as his family. You will discover, along with Bertrand, what it takes to do what nobody has ever done before and, when all is said and done, you will feel privileged to have sailed with him.

I also wish to correct a gross injustice in the review written by Art Tirrel. It is clear that, at the time that he wrote his review, he had not read the book in its entirety. Had he done so, he would have known that Bertrand's boat, Australia II, was not in fact faster than Liberty, Dennis Conner's. He would have also noticed that the "charismatic Aussies" were not poorly organized and had to deliver the performance of their lives in order to win. To have suggested facts "from the reading" which are clearly contrary to what is written is bordering on insulting, and I can only guess at his motives for writing an inaccurate review.

A true underdog story, a magnificent recollection of one of the great sporting achievements of the 20th century, an endearing personal account of a man's journey - however you want to look at it, a riveting read. One of those rare books which will both entertain and educate the reader.

Fantastic book. It is an instructive lesson in how to prepare for what you overwhelmingly want to achieve. Being set in the context of one of the most famous sporting events in history, the attempt to wrest the America's Cup from the US after 132 years, makes it that much more exciting. Sailors will love it, but anyone interested in the psychology of winning will gain from this book.

This book is fabulous! For sailors, the story alone is worth the read, but it is much more than just a story about sailing. Bertrand's description of the final race against "the red boat" (Dennis Connor) is so powerful that I felt what he and his crew felt, even before I had read what they felt! Any reader interested in the nature of sport and competition will find this book valuable.

There's a saying in sailboat racing: nothing makes you look smarter than a fast boat. Yet John Bertrand and the crew of Australia II, despite having the demonstrably superior yacht, nearly failed to win the 1983 regatta that ended the longest winning streak in the history of sport.
Bertrand begins at the low point. Down three races to one in the best of seven series, Australia II is on her way out for the fifth race. One more loss and it's over.
What follows makes blow by blow, hold-your-breath reading. Bertrand opens with a major blunder. Australia II is over early - on the course before the starting signal - and has to go back and start correctly, thus handing the Americans and Dennis Conner a one minute advantage.
In match racing, such an error is almost always fatal. Once again, however, when you have the fast boat, mistakes tend not to be as costly. Eventually, Australia II makes up the lost time and sails to a wide margin of victory to remain alive in the series.
So, if they had the faster boat, how did Bertrand and crew manage to lose those three races? From the reading, I see two answers; in the "slow" boat, the American team sailed a series of unsurpassed magnificence, and the Australian team committed mistake after mistake. Race one - steering failure; race two - mainsail headboard broke; race five the major blunder described above. Fact is, from Bertrand's telling the charismatic Aussies were poorly organized in general. To complicate matters, syndicate owner Alan Bond's hatchet man Warren Jones seemed to enjoy putting the screws to Bertrand at every opportunity. Given these pressures, it's a miracle Bertrand could function on the water at all.
Born to Win stands out for its wonderful race descriptions and inside knowledge but sags when the author delves into the underlying personal issues - where maybe he sounds a little too self-serving. But what would you expect, it is his side of things he's telling.
Art Tirrell - author of The Secret Ever Keeps, Spring 2007 ISBN 978-1-60164-004-8.

One would hope a book written about race relations thirty years ago would be irrelevant and possibly dated today. Unfortunately, Keneally's stunning indictment of turn-of-the-century racism, in this case that of Anglo settlers towards Australia's native aborigines, remains vibrant and powerful, even after these many years. Literally timeless in its message and articulate and graceful in its execution, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith could have been written about many minorities subjugated during many periods in many different countries.

The basic story is not unique. Half aborigine and half Anglo, Jimmie Blacksmith grows up in aborigine culture. Because he is light-skinned, however, he is able to obtain jobs on white landholdings more readily than other aborigines, and there he is exposed to Anglo culture--with all its stated, good intentions, but its sometimes patronizing attitudes and selfish goals. After being worked hard and cheated from his earnings repeatedly, Jimmie snaps, visiting on his former employers the kind of fatal "justice" which has so often been dealt to the aborigines. As vigilantes and police join forces to apprehend Jimmie, we see all the conflicting attitudes toward life and justice which undermine the creation of a unified, fair society.

The throbbing drumbeat of Jimmie's chants and Keneally's insistent narrative pace combine with our revulsion toward Jimmie's actions, to catch us up in the emotions of both the pursuers and the pursued. Our understanding of Jimmie and our empathy with him make us long for his redemption at the same time that we are anxious for justice to take place. Keneally's resolution is brilliant, fittingly combining the best elements of both of Jimmie's worlds. This is a wonderful novel which deals with a complex and sensitive subject without polemics or convenient, easy solutions, and it's as relevant today as it was when it was written. Mary Whipple

One would hope a book written about race relations thirty years ago would be irrelevant and possibly dated today. Unfortunately, Keneally's stunning indictment of turn-of-the-century racism, in this case that of Anglo settlers towards Australia's native aborigines, remains vibrant and powerful, even after these many years. Literally timeless in its message and articulate and graceful in its execution, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith could have been written about many minorities subjugated during many periods in many different countries.

The basic story is not unique. Half aborigine and half Anglo, Jimmie Blacksmith grows up in aborigine culture. Because he is light-skinned, however, he is able to obtain jobs on white landholdings more readily than other aborigines, and there he is exposed to Anglo culture--with all its stated, good intentions, but its sometimes patronizing attitudes and selfish goals. After being worked hard and cheated from his earnings repeatedly, Jimmie snaps, visiting on his former employers the kind of fatal "justice" which has so often been dealt to the aborigines. As vigilantes and police join forces to apprehend Jimmie, we see all the conflicting attitudes toward life and justice which undermine the creation of a unified, fair society.

The throbbing drumbeat of Jimmie's chants and Keneally's insistent narrative pace combine with our revulsion toward Jimmie's actions, to catch us up in the emotions of both the pursuers and the pursued. Our understanding of Jimmie and our empathy with him make us long for his redemption at the same time that we are anxious for justice to take place. Keneally's resolution is brilliant, fittingly combining the best elements of both of Jimmie's worlds. This is a wonderful novel which deals with a complex and sensitive subject without polemics or convenient, easy solutions, and it's as relevant today as it was when it was written. Mary Whipple

good book. buy it. good movie, too

This book tackles the tricky area of inter-racial violence bravely and with great skill. It paints a shocking picture of the Australia of 100 years ago, and particularly the plight of the aboriginal community. Keneally's economical style is perfectly suited to this dense narative; he makes every word count. One of the best books I've read this year.