Australia Books

What a fantastic book! I had no idea dogs played a role like this in the war. Whether your interested in war, working dogs or just want to read a great story i would recommend this book. Pete describes perfectly the innocent nature of a dog even in these extreme circumstances. I can't say enough good things about Tracker's so just pick it up and enjoy.....

wonderfully written book of the australian involvement of tracker dog teams in vietnam...thousands of allied lives were saved through the relationship built by the tracker dogs and handlers, together with the scout, sentry, mine, tunnel, booby trap, and other military working dog teams...over 4,000 dogs and in excess of 10,000 handlers kept our troops safe....the lives of our allied military forces depended on the trust built between handler and dog....

I love books written by people who have been in the working dog field with dogs such as Service Dogs of the Police,Military working roles. I personally find books written on the obedience trailling and Schuzhund competitions basically repetitive and in the main, boring.

Service work and associated training to me, is the real world of dog training, I enjoy competition and encourage people to compete.But I get tired of the never ending waffle of the best way to train involving food, toys, clickers, working in drives etc.

This book is excellent taking one into the real world of extreme dangers of the Vietnam war. Well written, reviting, and refreshing after the waffle of other dog books.Well done Peter. ...

I have read numerous books about war dogs. This is by far my favorite. I was totally engrossed from beginning to end. The book will make you laugh and a few pages later make you cry. Mr. Haran's accounts of his experiences in training tracker dogs for Vietnam, and doing two tours as a dog handler in the "J" (jungle), really bring home the effectiveness of man-dog teams and illustrate the deep bonds that develop between the two forged under fire. I can't say enough good things about this book. If you are a dog lover, or if you're interested in war dogs at all, you should read this book. You won't be disappointed.

The author did a lot of work in writing this book. His research was accurate but his findings were often off the mark because he just didn't understand some of the nuances. He painstakingly went over all the data, included accurate quotes, and came to mostly accurate conclusions. Unfortunately, some of his conclusions missed the mark. A good effort. He should be congratulated for his effort if not for his conclusions.

i lived through a similar orphanage childhood in artane school dublin city ireland,1949-58.owned ,run by the same religious order,the irish christian brothers.cruel wicked evil beyond my own ability to put into english language.i wish mr harris would make a docu-drama narrative about artane industrial school thank god for courageous journalists and publishers.

Having grown up in newfoundland and being present there while the Mount Cashel scandal came to light and underwent inquiry, I can assure the other reviewers that this book is indeed truthful. The circumstances the book describes are so incredibly shocking that I can readily understand why readers would have skepticism regarding its basis in reality. That just makes the story so much more worth reading.

As the Catholic Church is again rocked by priest sexual abuse scandal in 2002 and the situation has now become explosive as a result of the absolutely intolerable (yet not surprising) arrogance of some members of the clerical hierarchy, this is an excellent book to gain perspective by.

Michael Harris documents the story of the Newfoundland Orphanage, Mount Cashel, and the Irish Catholic Brothers who abused countless numbers of their charges -- without reprove -- for at least a twenty year period from the 1970's onward, While reports first were made in the mid-seventies and attempts were made to take legal actions as abuse became known, the Brothers enjoyed the protections of the blind-eyed legal system and members of the Catholic faithful that had set them on a pedestal. Charges were quashed over and over and police reports were re-written lest the "powerful Church" become alienated in Newfoundland.

At the same time in the U.S., cases were becoming public at an unpredented rate charging members of the Roman Catholic Clergy with an epidemic of sexual abuse allegations.

As a result of this last wave of Clergy Sexual Abuse, the Catholic Church promised change. Reporting and investigation polices were established to be certain that there was never again such an arrogant denial and insensitivity when cases came to light. The late Cardinal Joseph Bernandin even subjected himself to the scrutiny of the review policies that he had set in place in his own Archdiocese when he was falsely accused of sexual abuse. He was innocent, yet he felt that he had committed his diocese to the new policies and he must be an example of how they are to be practiced. Bernardin was highly praised for his humility and his willingness to "practice what he had preached."

Yet now again in 2002, we find that some Bishops and Cardinals were only paying lip service to the policies that had been set in place over a decade ago.

Among the worst offenders, the esteemed Cardinal Archbishop of Boston who continued to systematically practice denial, obfuscation and who continued to demonstrate little regard for the victims of priestly abuse in his Archdiocese. From Boston a new wave of explosions arose across the country and in other nations. We await the outcome.

At this point American Catholics are found to be far less forgiving than they were a decade ago.

When and how will this arrogance end? A re-reading of Michael Harris' book (or perhaps a first reading) along with Jason Berry's book, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation" might be required assignments for every Catholic leader in the Church (including the Pope!). Perhaps some eyeopening reading -- along with personal liability and true consequences for failure to report abuse -- might be a good first steps.

At the very top of any priorities must be the interests of the victims of these crimes. They have been repeatedly abused, as children, and have been again as adults, when seeking action for what they were made to suffer only to suffer attempts to make them out to be unfairthful liars.

As proud and historically significant as the Catholic Church had been, the time for true and profound changes is now -- not a century from now!

These decisions can no longer be optional, nor can they be subjected to the whim of the Pope -- or any of the other members of the official Catholic hierarchy. The Catholic laity must be heard! And, it is doubtful that this time they will be too quick to be content with efforts to cease the discussion!

Harris' book is an important part of the canon of excellent books on Religious Abuse in North America. Well written, highly readable and extremely compelling!


James J. Maloney
Saint Paul, Minnesota USA

Waiting for Daylight is a wonderful coffee table book that highlights the joys of ranching which only someone with a broad background in the saddle could write. Janell Kleberg also has a great artistic touch seen in the many photographs that are sprinkled throughout the book.
Having been raised on the King Ranch do Brasil, Kleberg's book brought back many memories. She has done a wonderful job of capturing the many locales of King Ranch operations outside of the USA.

Waiting For Daylight: King Ranch: Images From The Past is a marvelous showcase of full-color photographs taken by Janell Kleberg from horseback while working cattle in South Texas, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia. Descriptive captions add insight to the moving images of ranch and animal herding life. Providing the reader with a unique suspension of the ever-present flow of time, the beautiful scenery, the hard-working horses, and superbly documented images of everyday life create and unforgettable window into the lives of dedicated men and women employed in the hard but rewarding work of ranching.

This is a great book documenting the life of people in a harsh environment. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in not only spectacular photos but unbelievable descriptions of the photos.

The authors name is Janell Kleberg, not Janell King.
Janell captures the people of ranching. The images are taken while she worked side by side with the men and women of King Ranch. Photos were taken as she worked horseback on the various operations including Brazil,Texas,Argentina,Australia and Venezuela.The images are of a time past 1970-1990. Tio Kleberg

This book is aimed to increase our understanding of what happens to women throughtout their cycle. The issues that are adressed within, are highly informative and introduces the reader to new issues that orthodox medicine is only beginning to understand or ignores completely.

this is a wonderfully written book. the information is both detailed and easy to understand.

Ruth Trickey has written a comprehensive, clear and interesting book which will undoubtedly help any woman with a reproductive system-related problem and will help all women to know that part of themselves better.

This is an excellent book which clearly and concisely explains the myriad of conditions which can affect a woman from menarche through to menopause. I am a naturopath and medical herbalist and I have found this book invaluable. It is the first of its kind to cover the medical and alternative solutions to common gynaecological complaints. While it provides self-help information for the reader, I was impressed that it always advocates proper medical and professional advice and check-ups. A real gem.

This is the first book of aerial photography on Mexico City. Bob Cameron and Herb Lingl have done an outstanding work, especially that Mexico City skies are mostly highly cloudy and gray with smog and pollution. They captured extradordinary moments of clear and blue skies of Mexico City and vecinity. They have photographed unusual places and almost unknown and secrets spaces even for Mexico City natives. There are photos that in many years of visiting and touring so many places of the City I really never could see as well as in this magnificent book. This historical bool also shows old moments of the this great City and the new developments of its modernity. If you want to get a realistic and creative approach to this latino metropolis that is a good example of modern architecture and colonial buildings, get the book as soon as possible, the writing done by former Mexican diplomat Luis Herrera-Lasso is first quality. A great value for present to any of your friends or anyone proud of Mexican heritage and contemporary Mexico.

This book is a superb example of how Robert Cameron and Herb Lingl's aerial photographs exemplify the the beauty and majesty of Mexico City. The detailed text is a guided tour of the architecture and landscapes of this oftentimes overlooked cultural metropolis. Now for the first time we see Mexico City in her finest glory. As a native this book makes me proud of my city.

Robert Cameron's books are always first rate and this one is no exception, I think it is one of his best, I was so pleasantly surprised to see him produce another book because of his age, but with the help of his partner he has produced an awesome book. This book highlights the most familiar parts of Mexico City and some that may not be as familiar, all with the most incredible arial photography. The images are crisp and just jump off the page. If you have any interest in Mexico City or just love great photograph quite frankly, then you will love this book. Thank you Mr. Cameron for another top notch book, you are the benchmark in arial photography of this kind. Uh, now how about a city it Texas, Houston?, Dallas?, we'd love to have you capture us, with your unique talent, here's to your continued good health.

Having travelled back & forth between the U.S. and Australia for 30 years, I thought I knew my way around Down Under pretty well. However, once we decided to move over permanently, I soon realized I might as well have come from another planet!! If only we had a survival guide like this to combat the daily head scratching and keep our sense of humor alive!

If you are making the trip for the first time, planning to stay awhile or just curious about the cultural differences, this little book will open your eyes to the subtle variances that are discovered only by interesting experiences. Highly recommended for keeping you safely to the left, in harmony with the Aussie attitude of 'no worries' and out of socially embarrasing moments when you might say the 'wrong' thing! Enjoy the book and the country!!

This book is packed with valuable and interesting information. The Australian-American dictionary is also valuable and humorous. I ran many of the terms by a few Australian friends, and they confirmed they use the terms all the time (terms that most Americans would NOT understand). All in all, this is a terrific book and well worth the price for anyone that's traveling to or moving to Australia.

A Review of Americans' Survival Guide to Australia and Australian-American Dictionary (Paperback)
by Rusty Geller (Author)


Having been brought up in both the US and Australia, I bought this book out of curiosity for how one side saw the other and was surprised by it's breadth. Not only is it packed with the kind of information those who are visiting or emigrating from America (US/Canada) really need to know, Geller also weaves stories of his own experiences throughout which added reality and kept me reading.

Often guide books are presented too technically, but not so with this one. The style is easy and understandable all the way through. I have not read a book like this from cover to cover before, but this one taught me things I didn't know about Australia. There is also an extensive contents and index that pin point's particular issues quickly.

The first part of the book takes you on a journey that unveils the intricacies of all the issues you are likely to need to know about to successfully deal with a trip or move to Australia. The information is well sorted into issues and gives you the surrounding knowledge required to tackle each. For example: How do you get a car into Australia? Or use American electrical equipment? Order a beer, or migrate with your pet? Geller goes through processes like; language differences, entering the country, buying real estate and the education system, pulling the relevant information together and pointing out common pitfalls and misunderstandings you run up against when moving to a country that has so many sociological similarities. He also identifies the perplexing differences and links them comfortably back to the American vernacular. More than anything this guide gives you a gentle insight into the ways of Australia and Australians, so you are can feel out the culture and get on better, faster.

The second part is a very serviceable dictionary of Australian terms and phrases or `your cheat sheet', as Geller put it. The coverage of colloquial `Aussie lingo' is useful for any intending resident, business traveller or tourist and is an amusing read too. Have a "squiz" for yourself.

Whether you are going to spend time in Australia, or you are just thinking about it, the `Americans' Survival Guide to Australia' is worth having on your shelf and a good read to boot.

Reviewer Jack Seddon
20th October, 2007

I personally do not collect military insignia of any type; I bought this title to read more information on the ELITE organizations of Australia and New Zealand, In particular their Special Air Service (SAS) outfits. The book does and outstanding job at illustrating all the units insignias with hundreds of pictures and descriptions, as for this is what the book was intended for, What I enjoyed the most was the text and descriptions of units and unit lineage and history which really rounded out this text. If you want to know about ANZAC Elites this is a great start for there is no one book that I know of which discusses them all.

While I do not collect insignia, I found this book to be very interesting reading. The bulk of the text provides useful information about the historical background and roles of Australian & Kiwi Special Operations units, some of which I served in. The photos of the insignia included some troop symbols that I had not seen for many years and brought back some fond memories. It is good to see that the current generation are carrying on the traditions. Well done.

Great book. Not only does it provide over 700 full size colour photos of the insignia worn but has a very useful historical coverage for those interested in Australasian special forces. I have not found another book that covers this subject as well. A bonus is that the book is on excellent paper and a very nice addition to ones library.

Among the many worlds within our world, surely one of the saddest is that populated by refugees. Forced by war, oppression, famine, flood or hunger to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere, they share common miseries of dislocation, disorientation and, often, much worse at the hands of unsympathetic authorities. There are millions of them, and they can be found on every continent. They are welcome nowhere and their harrowing experiences often afflict them with traumas that they are unable to shake for the rest of their lives.
One little-known locus of refugee suffering is Australia. The government there has strict laws designed to discourage illegal immigration, and it makes its point clear by treating illegal arrivals with detention in a series of prison-like compounds scattered around the country.
Most of the refugees in Australia literally wash up on its shores, after boarding boats operated by people-smugglers in Indonesia. Most of them come from Middle Eastern countries where they faced persecution by authoritarian regimes, especially Iraq and Iran.
Heather Tyler was working as a journalist on one of Australia's leading newspapers when she became aware of the refugees, and began to take an interest in their plight. She paid many visits to their camps and, whenever possible, interviewed them about their reasons for being there and their experiences in the camps. She heard one sad story after another, and her book, Asylum, recounts her encounters and gives an overview of the refugee situation in Australia and the impact life in detention has on these unwelcome guests.
Many detainees experience severe depression, and some have resorted to desperate measures to gain sympathetic attention, including stitching their lips together in protest against their conditions and the refusal of the authorities to deal with them in a humanitarian way.
This is a sobering account of the dehumanizing experiences of `illegals' in a supposedly advanced democratic and civilized country. It begs the question: Is this really the best we `developed countries' can do for the less fortunate of this world?

This is a collection of skillfully-written, meticulously researched stories about mostly failed asylum-seekers in Australia and what happens to them during their incarceration. One of the things that most disturbed me about this rather remarkable book, was that Australia, a big country that's oretty much known for its sporting achievements and good-natured people, is painted as a place which locks up innocent children in gulags. Unfortunately it's true. Asylum-seekers come from many, troubled regions, and Australia is not their first port of call. In fact, it's often about the sixth country on the list that asylum-seekers and refugees have tried to seek sanctuary in. For their trouble, they are kept in what is called "mandatory immigration detention" centres. Each one is surrounded by multiple layers of deadly coils of razor wire, and each place is run by guards on a prison-style routine. One of them even has an electric fence of 8000 volts. And if this book is to be believed, most of these centres are in geographically very remote locations, in the middle of the desert, or on off-shore islands in stinking tropical heat. I'm a mother of four, and I still cannot get my head around this: that if I was an asylum-seeker, Australia would lock up me and my children. Most of the stories in this book concern the situations of children and how this regime has traumatised them. This is state-sanctioned damage. The stories are poignant and written in an understated way, but their power is unmistakable. I can only imagine that people in the Middle East, accustomed to gross human rights abuses and mass illegal migration, would find this book informative but puzzling as to why the Australian Government takes such a heavy-handed approach with so few people.

It is hard to believe that Australia, which is a very affluent country with vast amounts of space and only 18 million people, can lock men, women and children up behind coils of deadly razor wire in camps in the desert for years on end. In fact, as I read this book, I found myself almost disbelieving its horror. But this is what Australia does to the handful of asylum-seekers fleeing despotic regimes who had the tenacity to make it to the bottom end of the world to seek refuge. When I say handful, I mean a few thousand, and compared to the millions of asylum-seekers and refugees languishing in other parts of the world, I had to ask: what on earth is Australia's problem? This book contains stories of Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis, a Russian mother, a Sri Lankan, tells how they fled their homelands and why, and what happened to them when they got to Australia. Some arrived by air, others on leaky wooden boats after perilous voyages. What happened to them is all the same - they were locked up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in camps run like prisons, where desperate people tried to commit suicide. Their cases took far too long to be assessed and so many errors occurred in their cases that some took years to resolve. The camps are long distances from ordinary citizens, so much of what was happening to the detainees was out of sight, until extraordinarily brave journalists such as Heather Tyler penetrated the camps and wrote about what was really happening in this system that the Australian Government calls "humane". This is the first book that tells it like it is. If the detention system is so humane, then why did a 10-year-old Aghan girl hang herself inside one of these detention centres? These people did not have voices. No-one wanted to listen to them, and Heather Tyler has given them the opportunity to tell their stories. This is a compelling book, beautifully written and never melodramatic with what is such dramatic material. I couldn't put it down, and I wept many tears at times for the people that my country treated so harshly.

I am a sports physician and I cannot recommend this "Atlas of Nuclear Imaging" enough. Through the use of clinical case studies, this very well set out manual has been of enormous assistance not only in my practice but for the many fellow physicians and sports trainers I have told about it. I have observed and (happily) participated in many dramatic turnarounds in the health of several patients, whose diagnoses might have otherwise escaped me. This is an outstanding book!

I am a sports physician and I cannot recommend this "Atlas of Nuclear Imaging" enough. Through the use of clinical case studies, this very well set out manual has been of enormous assistance not only in my practice but for the many fellow physicians and sports trainers I have told about it. I have observed and (happily) participated in many dramatic turnarounds in the health of several patients, whose diagnoses might have otherwise escaped me. This is an outstanding book!

I am a sports physician and I cannot recommend this "Atlas of Nuclear Imaging" enough. Through the use of clinical case studies, this very well set out manual has been of enormous assistance not only in my practice but for the many fellow physicians and sports trainers I have told about it. I have observed and (happily) participated in many dramatic turnarounds in the health of several patients, whose diagnoses might have otherwise escaped me. This is an outstanding book!

Mr. Shine has written an excellent natural history of Australian snakes that will be appreciated and enjoyed by those who are knowledgeable of this aspect of Australian fauna as well as by those who experience this volume as a first introduction to this subject. In fact, it is an excellent introduction to snakes, in general, except for its omission of the viper family(i.e., rattlesnakes, copperheads, etc.) which are not found in Australia. This large, softcover volume contains beautiful photographs illustrating just about all the snake species.For those who have never been exposed to the subject, it will spark an interest which will lead to further study.

This book is a must for anybody interested in Australian snakes. It covers in detail the feeding habits, sex lives, habitats and natures of all sorts of snakes. It is also full of all kinds of useful information and facts, and covers evolutionary adaptaions from a very logical and scientific view point. It contains many spectacular photographs and fascinating anecdotes which make it a very enjoyable book to read. Useful for anyone with a budding interest through to those with a full blown passion. This book is much more than just a field guide and I strongly recommend it.

As a recent recreational licenced holder for reptiles this book gave the information in detail on every aspect regarding Australian snakes.It has a fresh, relevant approach to understanding our native reptiles. I found it very easy reading. It will be a wonderful reference guide and Im sure will be used regulary not only by myself but the whole family. It kept the interest of this household from a five year old to mid 40's, including changing the attutude of my wife who always had a fear of snakes. She read the book.The book starts with the Anatomy of snakes through to their habitat, behaviour, eating ,breeding and relationship both past and present with humans. Each page contains beautiful photographs on equal standing with any other publication.Sensational. Good enough to purchase two books. One for constant use, another to keep on the shelf. From a subject that is difficult to find much written about in this detail (Australian Snakes), this book covers most information without adding in other countries that for Australian purposes would not be of much use.