Australia Books

Jeffrey Paine has written an amazing book, which is both sophisticated in its analysis and insightful in its perspective. Yet, the narrative is racy and easy to read - possibly because of his background in journalism.

Paine traces the careers and Indian adventure of eight well-known persons who were either Westerners or were Indians influenced by the West to begin with, but later became deeply influenced by India. Yet in the process, they also influenced India itself. The list includes Lord Curzon, Mahatma Gandhi, E. M. Forster, Shri Aurobindo, Mira Behn (Madeleine Slade), Mother (Mirra Richard), Carl Jung, V. S. Naipaul and Annie Besant, all well-known figures in India and outside.

In the process he weaves a magical yet sophisticated tapestry showing why India exercised a near-fatal charm for these people and how it changed them. He also adds a lot of tid-bits about their personal lives, and idiosyncracies, their struggles, their failures and their successes. Surprisingly, and without noticing it, by the time you finish the book, you would have developed a pretty good perspective on how India has affected and deeply influenced Western world through these people. A remarkable intellectual feat indeed.

His handling of each character in the drama is confident and skillful. He has a definite format to follow, and this adds rigour to a book, which could have become a maudling, sentimental journey otherwise. The connections he makes with other contemporary characters and happenings are simply astounding and marvellous.

However, he becomes less sure of himself as he comes closer to the present, possibly because the processes are still going on, and the advantage of hindsight is not available. As a result, his handling of the chapter on Shri Aurobindo and his spiritual companion, the Mother, is less deft. He also fumbles with the conclusion, possibly because India is an incredibly complex phenomenon and Paine is after all a mere mortal.

Notwithstanding this slight blemish, an excellent book, worth the time and money, for anyone interested in understanding India and the West.

This is an enchanting book about growing up during the depression in New Zealand's rain forest. The authors father was in the lumber business and stationed with his family in the forest. Ruth grew up surrounded by interesting people, Maori friends, and nature. The book kept me engrossed during a 12 hour plane trip.. I was swept away to another time and place.

Although this book refers only to Australian festivals and events, it's loaded with management lessons, concepts and strategies that are universal. This is the best book I've been able to find on a subject that is scarcely written about (referring to large festivals). Thank you Johnny Allen, William O'Toole, Ian Mcdonnel and Robert Harris for sharing your knowledge.

Jason Bosch
Director of ArgusFest

Generally field guides serve one purpose; to identify animals in the field. However it is a rare occurrence when one finds a field guide that is as useful to identify species as it is to educate. Bill Branch has written such a book about the reptiles of southern Africa. The author has provided informative sections on identifying and collecting reptiles, and on the vegetative habitats of southern Africa which determine the distributions of many species. In addition the book briefly covers the evolution and breeding biology of reptiles. The photographic plates are separate to the text and allow one to quickly scan the pages to identify the species of interest. The text section of each species covers distribution, breeding biology, taxonomy and interesting facts of relevance. Whether you are visiting southern Africa or a resident, this book will spur your interest in herpetology and allow you to identify reptiles with confidence.

I work at David Fleay Wildlife Park on the Gold Coast and this is the book I suggest for those after a book to identify birds they come across in their backyard or ones they hope to spot on holiday. Sensational realistically looking coloured diagrams allow an easy comparison to birds in front of you or in photographs you previously have taken. Information about each of the birds is also included.

You can also get this book in a compact edition which has every bit of information as its bigger sibling. The compact edition isn't that compact and is in fact the exact same height but is a lot narrower, in fact half the width. The only real difference is that pictures of the birds are in with the text whereas the full size edition has information on the left pages and the illustrations on the right pages. I actually prefer the compact edition but either format is good.

Covering the frogs of the entire comtinent, this book is surpisingly compact (great for taking in the field) yet packs in the information and photographs! I found it extremely helpful in the field as there are often several photographs of each species- which helps in identification of species often variable in appearance throughout their range.Great book, containing all the usual field guide info and more!

This is a fantastic field guide for Horticulturists and others interested i these amazing trees....the only drawback is that it can be bought for under one hundred bucks new in australia....which equals about seventy five USDolls....Hmmmmm...

Full of useful information for tourists, including ratings and reviews of places to stay and sites to see. The authors have a very down-to-earth, honest approach to the reader and some of their comments had me laughing out loud. For example, in commenting on the kangaroo, the book reads:

"To give you an idea of what you're dealing with in a tame kangaroo, just watch them with children--even when...[they]...pull their ears and walk on their tails, they just get up and walk away. If they wanted, they could open the kids up like a tin of sardines--they have claws like a saber-tooth tiger's tooth."

Combined with the Frommer's Australia books (both the 4th edition and the 'for about $50 a day' edition) I've found tons of useful information and probably won't even need to resort to a travel agent next time we visit.

This is a great book I brought with me all over Australia and found invaluable. This book gives detailed info on more sites than you could ever hope to dive, and even if you don't dive the pictures are great. Top book!

In this fascinating book, Kevin Foster looks at the ways in which Britain experienced the Falklands war. He makes sense of the vast number of accounts, and of the various themes rehearsed.

The Thatcher Government portrayed its decision to fight, and its conduct of the campaign, as expressions of the essential national character, the `true Britain'. The mass media at once swung into line. In fact, the war primarily served a purpose hostile to the nation, Thatcher's political survival.

Government and media equated Argentina's initial recovery of the Islands with the Nazi invasion of Poland, as they immediately identified the war with the Second World War, and Thatcher with Churchill. They saw the Falklands as the image of Britain, a ravished island Eden. They ignored the harsher similarities, of economic dependence, under-investment and social inequality.

The media depended on the military for information, which turned the journalists into what one called `troopie groupies'. The media became a single, responsible voice speaking for `our common cause'. According to their account, 'our' Government never faltered, `our' flawless heroes carried out a perfect campaign. On the other side, their corrupt, undemocratic Government and its murderous thugs waged a campaign of Latin incompetence.

The war was supposedly unavoidable. There was no alternative; the British Government, guileless innocent in a naughty world, was forced into war by the Satanic enemy. Our supreme temptation was the serpent `appeasement', diplomacy a cunning trap set by wily foreigners. Peace demonstrators were described as pro-fascist, dissenters as collaborators. In practice, this meant rejecting in principle all ceasefire proposals and negotiations; it meant war without compromise. The only acceptable ethical outcome was the enemy's total surrender.

Government and media celebrated the war as the source of national salvation, even, in Thatcher's memoirs, of world salvation. War was rebirth, welfare, humanitarianism.

This presentation of the Falklands war has become the media model for all subsequent wars. Kevin Foster's book is a model of sanity; its publication now is especially timely.