Australia Books

The Complete Guide to Food for Sports Performance is the best sports nutrition resource I have come across. It covers a great variety of sports and is suitable for the recreational sportsperson to the professional athlete. It covers eveything anyone would want to know about sports nutrition and is set out in an easy-to-read manner. Every sports person or sports professional should have a copy of this book

It is hard to keep reading about what "the athlete" should eat. The athlete doesn't exist. But gymnasts and runners and swimmers and basketball players do, and they all have really different needs and interests. This book begins with a section on the principles of sports nutrition - from the science to the general practice. This part is good, and provides an up-to-date view of the latest ideas in eating for peak performance. This shouldn't be too surprising since the author is the head of nutrition at the Australian Institute of Sport. The language is easy to read and makes scientific principles comprehensible.

But it is the second half of this book that is unique and special. It takes a focussed look at various sports, providing a personal glimpse of the nutritional needs and the real life eating practices of the athletes involved. Sports really differ in their lifestyle, their competition needs, their traditions and the ways in which their athletes/players eat to be at their best. These chapters discuss the key nutrition issues that arise in a sport, providing specialised strategies to deal with these issues. It reviews applied sports nutrition studies that can answer specific questions in a sport, and provides case histories to illustrate the special nutritional challenges and solutions. Find out how Tour de France riders refuel during their event. Read how gymnasts manage weight control issues, or whether weightlifters need to eat more protein. Read some of the letters written to body building magazines and compare the answers provided in the magazines with the advice of a real sports nutrition expert. Compare the strategies that football players or runners need to use to stay hydrated during their events. This is the first time that I have gained specific insights into the real life world of sports nutrition. I hope this book continues to be updated to provide a great blend of the science and practice of sports nutrition. I would recommend this book to athletes, coaches and parents. But I also think that many sports science and medicine professionals will benefit from the "birdseye" view of sports nutrition.

I regularly use the book as a quick reference when developing resources or planning a lecture. It is an easy read and provides nutrition tips and issues specific to individual sports. The way the book is set up, allows you to access the information quickly.

The complete guide to food for sports performance is an excellent resource for athletes of all levels. Not only does it provide detailed nutritional information during training it also provides very useful tips for competition (pre-, during and post). The second part of the book addresses a wide range of different sports from distance running and rowing to gymnastics and diving. This part is particularly useful as it highlights problems and nutritional deficiencies that are experienced by athletes in this sport, thus helping the reader to pinpoint (or watch out for) certain eating "mistakes" in their favourite sport. Case studies offer very useful examples on how even small changes in the diet can make a big difference. A brilliant book for anyone interested in sports nutrition.

I have only had a chance to look through the book, but it looks like it has a lot of the newer tatting that I am looking for.
Barbara

What a great tatting book! The beginning has very good instructions for several techniques and then there are 15 lovely patterns demonstrating them. Lots of nice, large, color photos and diagrams with clear written and charted directions.

This is a wonderful book. It is very inspiring. You find it hard to decide what to tat first. This is one of the best tatting books I have seen in awhile. Well worth purchasing.

This book is a great one for a tatter in any level. What I like the most about the book is that you can find some techniques that are not very commonly use in Tatting and at least a pattern to practice that technique. Also some patterns "play" with beads, something that makes tatting more beautiful!

This is a tremendous book that will certainly dominate my coffee table for years to come. It might be useful when referring to various species (e.g. when buying mail-order) but it does not contain any aquarium care information- a task that is best left in another volume. If you are interested in the subject, however, I highly recommend this book.

This is the greatest coral book ever written! It is a masterpiece and includes some of the best underwater coral photography ever published. It is mostly a pretty version of Dr. Veron's 5 vol scientific journals, and is a little hard to see it's true use in the reef keeping hobby, because it talks about corals strictly out on the wild reef, but if you take the requirements of the animal in the wild and apply it to your home aquarium you can not fail. This book is also the best for identifing all of those mystery stony corals you have in your tank. There is not one stony coral on the reef that this book does not discuss. If you have stony corals or plan to have them in the future then this book is a must have on your list. The price tag is a little high I know, but worth every cent. The great pictures alone make it a great coffee table book and worth the price right there,if you love corals don't pass this book up!

Corals of Australia and Indo-Pacific is the ultimate resource for stony (SPS) Corals I have found to date. I am a reef aquarium hobbiest and I use Verons book almost exclusively to identify species of aquarium coral. The book is also extremely helpful in requard to the taxonomy of the SPS.

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific is by far the best reference for coral reference on the market today. This book is for the serious Reef Aquarium Hobbiest or Marine Biologist. While this book does not give reference to aquarium conditions, it does provide the reader with a comprehensive review of the major SPS corals not given in any other puiblication that I have found. If you are are an SPS reef aquarium hobbiest. You need this book

My son loved the book as a young boy now the grandchildren are having it read to them and beginnning to love it.

This is a fabulous book integrating math and literature. Frank reminds us of someone we all know. You will laugh yourself silly, no matter what your age is!

This is a story for younger children, about a boy who likes to ask questions. Not about dragons, or witches or monsters, but about the ordinary things around us like ball-point pens, and peas, and his dog Frank. The best and biggest question is of course 'What if?' "What if I drew with this ball point pen until it ran out, how long would the line be?" "What if I ran this bath until the room filled up with water, how long would it take?" These are the sort of questions that all kids ask. The difference is that this kid has the answers. I found this book a delight with colourful and amusing illustrations. I would recommend it to anyone with children aged 4-10. Also to grown-ups who still have the enquiring mind of a child

This book contains wonderful illustrations of a boy and his unforgetable dog Frank. The boy, as he's referred to in the book, uses Frank as a unit of measure. The boy also calculates fascinating and interesting facts about peas (his least favorite vegetable), humpback whales, his father and the bathtub. It inspires readers to reconsider measurement and allows them to laugh at the same time. It is a wonderful book full of intresting, if sometimes seemingly useless, facts about numbers, calculation and one amazing dog name Frank!

Darkest Hour is not only an excellent historical account of one of the most important "battles" at the beginning of World War II but also an entertaining read that is hard to put down. The author does a good job at character development, which is often something lacking in these kinds of books. He follows the Lark Force from its inception in Australia to its demise (mostly) in the wretched hold of a Japanese cargo ship. All is not hopeless as the stories of those who did manage to escape the island and get back home are told in adequate detail. This book made we want to read more about this period of World War II in the Pacific theater.

The book "Darkest Hour: The True Story of Lark Force at Rabaul" is a compelling historic accounting of those Australian men and women on the southwest Pacific island of New Britain that was run over by the invading Japanese Army. Their fateful encounter began at the early morning hour of 2:30 a.m. on January 23, 1942. The Japanese rushed ashore to completely overwhelm the 1500 men and six nurses in the garrison; thus begins one of the most tragic tales of WWII.

Less than 25% of those in the garrison were able to escape and evade and after many weeks of hardship found their way off the island to safety. However, those that remained were captured and endure cruel and sometime lethal treatment at the hands of the Japanese. In one incident alone, two hundred POWS were executed. But a worse fate was still awaiting 850 of the survivors when they were torpedoed by an American submarine and went down with the ship while locked in their holding cells below deck.

The book is obviously researched very well. Author Bruce Gamble writes this historic story as if he were an eyewitness to the events. It is a most compelling and entertaining tale that shows the courage, sacrifices and horrors of war first hand. Gamble makes us feel the emotions of that group as he shares with the reader some of the small details of the events by the people involved. The writing is top notched and goes beyond a mere reporting of what happened. It captures the heart and soul of that time and place. Reading this true story will change you; you cannot help but be moved by what happened to these men and women.

This book is one of those that once you begin reading it you do not want to pout it down until you are finished with it. I give this book my personal endorsement and highest recommendation. It has also earned The Military Writer's Society of America's top book rating of FIVE STARS! This book is more than just history--it is also a tribute to those fine soldiers and nurses of Lark Force who gave their lives for freedom.

Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Stalingrad, Iwo Jima. These are just a handful of the battles that come to mind when people think about World War II--and rightfully so. Thankfully, though, Bruce Gamble extends his vision to one of the most gripping, and tragic, stories of the entire war. The story of Lark Force. Not only a true page turner (Gamble is an excellent story teller), Darkest Hour is obviously well-researched and filled with detail. Put simply, their story deserved to be told, and Bruce Gamble provided a fitting tribute to their legacy.

Darkest Hour is a moving book about one of Australia's least known World War Two incidents.
My grandfather died on the Montevideo Maru and for years I've searched for information about his death and his time on Rabaul. This book provided me with many answers others haven't.
Bruce Gamble writes about the members of Lark Force as real men and honestly discusses the controversy surrounding their fate.

A compelling, disturbing book that brings this darkest hour in Australian war time history into the light.

This book is a guide by someone who has been to each location but apparently has no commercial stake in your going there. The money saving tips and low cost suggestions were particularly attractive. For the physically active, like myself, bike trips and hikes are outlined in great detail. Advice on where bicycles can be rented and what equipment to use for trips are especially helpful. Close up bare bones maps with attractions noted gave me the feeling that I would never be lost in going to each location. Finally, if you don't plan to go but would like an interesting tour of each location, this book provides a running commentary providing a view of the overall atmosphere together with a detailed visit to the major and minor attractions in each area. A very enjoyable read but also a very practical guide.

I recently purchased this book prior to traveling down under. The book was immensely helpful in making my trip an a memorable adventure. The trips listed in the book are not the run of the mill tourist(y) trips listed in the more well know guides and provide exciting enhancements to anyone's itinerary. I found myself reading the trips I was unable to take just to learn more about the local culture and flavor.
The local info on transportation and food etc was timely and accurate and a great help. Highly recommend this book for anyone desiring to experience Australia or just learn more about this wonderful country.

Far from being the usual dry and boring travel guide, the author of this book presents comprehensive information on a variety of interesting destinations accompanied by witty descriptions and refreshing honesty. It also inspires confidence in the potential tourist to know that most of the adventures have been personally researched, road tested and evaluated. I found this book very easy to read and having already visited a few of the destinations listed in the book myself, would recommend it as a must-have bible for anyone intending to travel 'down-under' to experience the real Australia, both on and off the usual well trodden tourist paths.

Daytrips Eastern Australia is a valuable tool for anyone who is looking to visit this amazing country. It is also a great resource for those who are simply interested in getting better acquainted with the Australian culture. I am currently planning a trip to Australia, and I was able to find more information in this one book than on the internet. The author includes a variety of helpful resources, such as information on transportation, food and drink, accomodations, and much more. Throughout the book, the author makes you feel as if you are right there with him. Overall, it is a great way to prepare yourself for a rewarding trip to Australia.

THE DEAD OF NIGHT is the 2nd book in John Marsden's TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN series. THE DEAD OF NIGHT continues the sorty of a group of teenagers who have to learn how to survive after their country has been invaded. This book is really good if you like suspense.

All the books in this series are brilliant

I was first introduced to this serioes at school, we were assigned to read it for English, before this book all books assigned to us in school were all garbage and I expected the same, as did most the other students in my class, most wouldnt bother to read it, so the teacher read it aloud in class, for most of it upuntil the half way mark I ignored most of it, until it dawned on me that this book was actualy sounding o.k. When I got home i got my copy from the bookshelf and actualy started to read it, and I read at any chance I had, and when I finished I read the second and third and then had to wait while the rest were written and released
The amazing story starts off with a group of teenagers going camping, and when they return the find the Australia has been taken over by another country, they go to the bush again to hide, but can't just sit back and do nothing and decide to fight back in what ever way they can, although unconventional, when all is said and done and the series is over they made a huge impact on the war, sometimes planned, sometimes fluked, of coarse not all survive and with every loss you can not help but feel the emotional pain of the others, it is the best comming of age story I have read, and although it is listed as a young adult series, it will be unforgetable to all ages and you will develop a bond with Ellie, Homer, Kevin and the rest of the gang, I have never fell in love with any fictional charactors the way I did with these guys, not even in T.V series
A story like this comes along once in a life time, do not, and I mean do not missss this book

The Dead of Night is a fascinating follow-up to Tomorrow, When the War Began. I teach a class of 7th and 8th graders and we have read both books aloud throughout the current year. The kids simply love this series. Marsden is no dummy! He knows how to cleverly pull in the teen readers. In this series, the adults have managed to screw things up and it is up to the kids to correct things. He offers a sense of adventure along with a sense of power to his teen readers. Furthermore, he deals directly, yet responsibly, with a number of issues that are especially important to teens. Somehow, he manages to capture the true feelings and concerns that are universal for most teens.

On June 23 1943 the author, Jack Champ, was marched into the German prisoner-of-war camp designated Oflag IVC, these days better known as Colditz Castle. Colditz was Germany's seemingly escape-proof castle prison, where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful prisoners of World War II tirelessly carried out an unending campaign to achieve the seemingly impossible - freedom. By the end of the war, twenty Australians had spent time in Colditz, and this book looks at life in the ancient castle specifically from their point of view. Colditz was a very special camp - the guards outnumbered the prisoners, and the castle was floodlit at night. Initially the Germans boasted that Colditz Castle was escape-proof, but they were wrong. By the end of the war, there had been more escapes from Colditz than any prison of comparable size during both world wars. Jack Champ was a reluctant prisoner who took part in two of the most spectacular mass escapes of the war. This book describes in vivid detail how these indomitable and resourceful Australian servicemen tried, and at times succeeded, in turning dreams of escape into reality. Colin Burgess has interviewed many of the survivors and carried out extensive research to create this gripping account of the full story - from tense days in the care of the French Underground through to the only recently resolved fight for proper compensation.

On June 23 1943 the author, Jack Champ, was marched into the German prisoner-of-war camp designated Oflag IVC, these days better known as Colditz Castle. Colditz was Germany's seemingly escape-proof castle prison where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful prisoners of World War II tirelessly carried out an unending campaign to achieve the seemingly impossible - freedom. By the end of the war twenty Australians had spent time in Colditz, and this book looks at life in the ancient castle specifically from their point of view. Colditz was a very special camp - the guards outnumbered the prisoners, and the castle was floodlit at night. Initially the Germans boasted that Colditz Castle was escape-proof, but they were wrong. By the end of the war there had been more escapes from Colditz than any prison of comparable size during both world wars. Jack Champ was a reluctant prisoner who took part in two of the most spectacular mass escapes of the war. This book describes in vivid detail how these indomitable and resourceful Australian servicemen tried, and at times succeeded, in turning dreams of escape into reality. Colin Burgess has interviewed many of the survivors and carried out extensive research to create this gripping account of the full story - from tense days in the care of the French Underground through to the only recently resolved fight for proper compensation.

This is a great story of what determined men can achieve with severely limited resources. Much has been written on Colditz Castle, the men who were imprisoned there and the few who escaped. I visited the castle in 1999, and what I saw confirms the stories in the book. This book is great reading for those who prefer real adventures and exploits to fiction.

Great story of what determined men can achieve with severely limited resources. Lots has been written on Colditz Castle and the men who were imprisoned there and the few who escaped.

I visited the castle in 1999, and what I saw confirms the stories in the book.

Great reading for those who prefer real adventures and exploints to fiction.

Wasn't sure what to expect when ordering, but am very happy with the purchase. The maps are great! I have lived in Guam & find that the info in the book is very helpful. I'm still learning my way around the dive world here & now know where some of these places are that people are talking about. It has also helped plan our next dive trip to other islands. Great info on Palau, Chuuk, & Yap. So much to see & so little time!!!

I went back and bought 2 more for my travel companions! We just came back from Truk & Yap and I never saw my book, it was traveling around our group so much! We are planning to return to Palau, so I bought extra copies as self defense! The best dive guide I have found to the islands.

One of the most informative books about diving in the Pacific , next to Tim Rocks lonely planet guides for diving and snorkelling in Micronesia this is the best , only this one accomodates all the islands in one book meanwhile lonely planet is done over three books .
I definately recommend it !

I don't know that I've ever read a better dive book or travel guide. The author covers every minute detail, and somehow, it still reads well--a fascinating and well-treated subject. David Leonard shows great wit and a solid knowledge of his subject.

The photographs are amazing, too.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. Not only does it show the other side of the history of colonial Australia, it's also really funny. Calling the Chief Protector of the Aborigines an "upwardly mobile bricklayer" (as Mudrooroo does) says it all. :)

A novel that provides a much needed Aboriginal perspective on Australian history - and does so with great originality, compassion and humour. I recommend it as a truly important and fascinating read. It provides a unique perspective on colonialism and indigenous resistance that is too often ignored by mainstream press and politics.

This is a truly amazing book, a view into a world that has been lost, an examination of a historical tragedy that is unfortunately not unique: the death of an entire people at the hands of another. It is a compassionate work of great spiritual power, and ultimately affirms the human imagination and the strength of the human soul. It is written in extraordinarily restrained language by a justly acclaimed poet.

The author, Mudrooroo, may not be well known to American readers, but is a leading (and somewhat controversial) literary figure in Australia. The novel was previously published several times in the United States as by Colin Johnson, the author's birth name. I completely agree with the assessment of Stephen Cobb that it is an extraordinary accomplishment.

In my opinion this is the most under-rated novel of the twentieth century. Certainly I can think of no other that tells a tale of such utter tragedy and suffering with such a coherent equanimity of feeling and purity of wit.

Now, I have to confess that this book touched me more than any other I have ever read. I have read it more times than any other novel (except perhaps Jane Austen's Emma, which I was required to study both in high school and at college). Yet I have taken pains to keep my passion for Doctor Wooreddy's Prescription from clouding my review. I can offer some facts to bolster my objectivty. For example, my opinion of this work is not due to a lack of exposure to good books. I got my degree in English and Comparative Religion in 1974, at Leeds University, England. I've been reading voraciously ever since.

Indeed, something unqiue about the School of English at Leeds University back then was its Chair in Commonwealth Literature. That meant I studied those often overlooked novels written in English by people who were neither English nor American, including Nobel Prize winners Gordiner, Naipul, and White.

Yet in my humble opinion, Mudrooroo has eclipsed them all with his narration of the death of a civilisation, the most successful that this planet has yet seen. As we see, through the eyes of a last survivor, the destruction of 60,000 unbroken years of complex human culture, we can but marvel at the humor in his heart, the compassion in his eyes, and the boundless pity he has for those who are destroying his world.