Australia Books

This is a wonderful book, a true story about a man who rose from humble beginnings (nearly starving and walking through a desert to find work) who rose to lead his State in crises and then became a major and respected international Statesman. Sir Hal Colebatch's story should be more widely known, for it casts light on many forgotten aspects of Australia's history before, during and after the Second World War. He was not only an inspiring Statesman, ever conscious of trade as the great force for peace, but in many ways a delightful character. A physically courageous man, he survived an assassination attempt by waterside thugs in 1919, and morally courageous as well, he sacrificed several opportunities in his political career rather than compromise his principles, and spent much of political life fighting powerful vested interests. He emerges too as a delightful compainon in many ways, wise, witty and learned, though he had to leave school at the age of 11. This book, written by the son who was born in his old age, deserves to become a classic.

This is the life of a great Australian who has been in danger of being forgotten. Sir Hal Colebatch left school at 11 and a few years later walked through the desert to the Coolgardie gold-rushes. He camped in a tent, wrapped in newspaper, and when he got a type-writer became a journalist.

A few years later he was chess champion of Western Australia and a few years after that Mining Editor of a major Perth Newspaper. He entered Parliament, became Premier of Western Australia in 1919 and had to cope with the Spanish 'flu epidemic and a major riot on the wharfs. That was in the first quarter of his political career!

He later became Minister for Education, setting up the first country high-schools, West Australian representative in London, editor of the State's official history in 1929 and entered the Senate. There he refused to attend Party meetings on the grounds the Senate was not a Party house, but achieved some important economic reforms. In London again, he was involved in the West Australian secession campaign and, more seriously, travelled to Germany and met leading anti-Nazis who were trying to forestall Nazism by breaking down Germany's trade isolation. He also met Hitler, Goering, Goebbels and other Nazi bosses and was taken on a tour of an early concentration camp.

He also had dealings with Winston Churchill and many other prominent figures. Posted back to Australia in 1939, he campaigned tirelessly for a stronger Australian war-effort, and, after the war, for rational economic and trade policies. A life-long, and often very lonely, free-trader and campaigner against tariffs and other trade-barriers, many of his ideas have since been vindicated. He also worked for other forms of international co-operation.

His first wife died in 1940. He re-married in 1944 and the son of his second marriage, Hal GP Colebatch, a well-known poet, novelist, lawyer and political scientist, has written an absorbing book, charming, scholarly, perceptive, but also detached and objective.

I am so glad I discovered this book! It has given me much to think about and as well as being a warm human document has broadened my appreciation of West Australian history.

It would be hard to suggest my review is subjective, since I worked with Bill Laurance in the rainforests of north Queensland in those hot, humid and heady years, and am also in the book-though its appearance in print was a great surprise. Nonetheless, for the reader, biologist, or armchair traveler, this book has a bit of everything. Laurance describes his pursuit of a Ph.d in biology with candor, insight and humor. It was an incredible time in Australia, and for once, at least, the forests won: much of Australia's remaining lowland and montaine rainforest was protected by World Heritage designation and the Rat Patrol and Higher Mammal Crew (led by Laurance) were right in the thick of it. Bill describes the realities of field work: the sheer physical aspect of being in the rainforest, the thrill of encountering relict and highly adapted species, the tension with local townspeople who make their living in extractive industries like logging, and the constant infusion of travelers and characters who were recruited to the little house on Coral Street. Small town, Australia is accurately depicted in the pages of this book: the miners, the timber cutters, pastoralists and plain drunks, most who ultimately come to respect Dr. Laurance and his work. Laurance also describes his travels in New Guinea, including several dangerous and hilarious encounters with local tribesman. Throughout are scattered insights about biology: why for example there are few aquatic marsupials (they would drown in a pouch), and human nature. My only complaint with the book, is that Laurance got the details of my own expedition in search of Morelia carinata with Geoff Cunningham substantially wrong: We did not lose our packs and food in a river crossing in the Kimberley, but walked 42 days to the coast for a rendezvous with a boat that never arrived due to a cyclone. After waiting ten days at the coast, we walked 168 miles to the nearest cattle station on the edge of nowhere. We did not eat anything but grasshoppers and wild figs for ten days, and were grateful to emerge from the outback with our lives. But, since I lost touch with Bill for 5 years, I can imagine he might get those details mixed up. All in all, it's a wonderful book, and a real insight into the challenges of field biology and habitat conservation. Laurance's post-script is a call to action to halt the destruction of rainforests around the world. Get involved. As he used to say, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

After reading a wonderful review in the Chronical of Higher Education, I knew that I had to get my hands on this book.

Similar to Tim Flannery's Throwim Way Leg, Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles recounts a biologist's travels and adventures into the Australian rainforest with his dog (Tulley) and a motley crew of volunteer research assistants.

Although Bill Laurance is a brilliant scientist, he is also a gifted writer who has the ability to spin dry field notes into witty reading.

I highly recommend this book!

What a relief that a book for first year law students (and others studying law as a component of their degrees) finally address ALL of the issues that we face. This book is fantastic. Great style, easy to read, totally authoritative. No first-year (and beyond) should be without it. It's perfectly laid out so that you can go to any part of it at any time for information and comments on a particular issue, rather than having to read the whole thing from the beginning.

The title says it all! The book is set out in a comprehensive and orderly manner and addresses all the 'where'; 'how'; 'when'; and 'why' in an endeavour to make the journey of achieving a law degree an enjoyable and certainly, a less stressful one.
This is an excellant reference book for law students, in particular first year law students.

for the Olympics. This is an excellent pre-travel reference for anyone planning to attend the Summer Olympics in Sydney this year. The historical background will help to bring the city to life, from its beginnings as a penal colony to its growth into one of the world's truly great cities.

Sydney started out as a landing place for convicts from Great Britain. But from those humble beginnings, it has grown into one of the world's great cities. This is a "must read" for anyone planning a trip Down Under any time soon. The insights provided by the author will help the Australian visitor have a much better understanding of the city before him. With the Olympics coming soon to Sydney, the timing of this release couldn't have been better. This is a book worth the investment of time and money. You'll enjoy it.

university architectur

This book is full of excellent photographs and provides enough evidence of the unfullfilled genius of Jorn Utzon, who was prevented from completing his magnificent building concept.This was acheived by the reportings of an ignorant press, and political pressures brought about by some smalltime polititian, who wanted to exploit the costs of this wonder, and bring himself to the forefront, as the saviour of public money! It is unbeleivable today, that such treatment could be given to a man with such vision as Utzon displayed in his drawings. If costs were all that counted in buildings - we would never had seen York Minster, for example.

The people of Australia are today proud of this building, but it is only a shadow of what Utzon had in mind. Ah well, its only money!

Tassels provides step-by-step instructions for creating sixteen decorative tassels, covering everything from choosing threads to finishing touches. Any involved in crafts or arts projects will find this very specific guide useful and important for adding a tassel touch to a design or piece: the black and white step-by-step illustrations are very clear and the color photos excellent.

Susan comes up with another winner - both beginning tassel makers and experienced designers will appreciate this book. This book is a sophisticated sequel to her earlier The Art of Tassel Making. Basics of tassel anatomy and construction techniques will ease beginners into this wonderful textile art. Among the most useful tips for experienced tassel makers are instructions on how to replicate vintage jasmine petal components, decorative strips and flower centers by embroidering over a sheet aluminum base. Also detailed are ribbon flowers, chevron wrapped and peyote stitched tassel heads, and beaded overskirts. The impeccably constructed tassels are simply but beautifully photographed, and Jane's illustrations are easy to follow. Seven tassels pictured are fairly basic in style and construction, with the remaining nine showing various styles of additional embellishment. This book is another "must have" for anyone smitten with the creative art of tassel making! On the negative side, be forewarned that the much-awaited Suppliers List does not contain any US suppliers; this was a major disappointment. Other than that omission, Susan's new book was another delightful read from beginning to end.

With 'Terra Nullius', Sven Lindqvist turns his ascerbic, post-colonial attention on the great antipodean continent of Australia, ancient land mass, ancient indigenous cultures and one of the greatest of C18th Enlightenment experiments. The grim life of what was essentally a prison developed when the option of the United states was closed due to the War of Independence, is well documented by Robert Hughes in his, 'Fatal Shore'. Lindqvist's rhetoric is of cooler peruasion, but none the less withering for that. The manner adopted will be familiar to Lindqvist's readers. We are conducted on a studious and lugubrious tour of the literature surrounding the subject, the land mass and the treatment of its indigenous peoples, by its colonizer. These alone are salutory selections and presented in Lindqvist's usual succinct and pithy chapters. However, he is not a long distance operator, drawing conclusions in the safety of a European cell. He does the hard yards, gets the soundbites, scents, geology and social realities right. I recommend this as a primer for intending travellers to central Australia, who might wish for some background to the contemporary malaise in indigenous affairs, or in need of some background on why the federal government saw fit, and found it so easy, to intervene its army in indigenous communities, with barely a ripple of concern from the Australian public. It should be mandatory on the reading lists of Australian students.

Literary historian Sven Linqvist was introduced to Australia at a young age. An 1896 book described how white European invaders viewed and treated the Aborigines. The story depicted a trio of young European boys encountering a group of Aborigines at a meal. Tucked away in a deep cavern, which to the boys meant the Aborigines couldn't have hunted the meal, the boys immediately concluded the group was engaging in cannibalism. The result was inevitable, the boys opened fire with their carbines, wiping out the "natives". For Lindqvist, it launched a train of thought he pursued years later. Journeying around and through Australia, he brought in his swag a background of European literature dealing with "primitive" peoples. In this vivid account, he takes us on both a geographic and a sociological tour of Australia's historical dealings with its indigenous population. At each stopping point, he relates what occurred to the Aboriginal occupiers there. It's not a pretty story.

The Aborigines were the focus of a good many early ethnographic scholars, almost none of whom set foot on the southern continent. Emile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, Bronislaw Malinovski, among others, read a few accounts of missionary or other observers to draw novel, if still Euro-centric, ideas of what Aborigine social structure was like and what it meant for human history. The common theme was that primitive societies represented a step on the way to "civilisation". According to Lindqvist, these scholars were uniformly incorrect. Instead of family, clan or even religion binding Aborigine society, it was the land they occupied. Europeans, who considered nomadic peoples as "landless", failed to observe the way land featured in family relationships, religion and the way a people who seemed to be constantly on the move, viewed the land. Aborigines may not have farmed the soil or used it to pasture animals, but that was because they understood how fragile that resource truly is. Europeans, under the influence of Christian dogma about "heathens" and academic dogmas about "primitive people", occupied Aborigine land with the view to "assimilating" or eradicating them. Assimilation was achieved by elimination of all ties to their own culture and a brief education leading to demeaning jobs as domestics or labourers. In short, forced off their land, forced to deny their roots, forced to enter an alien life.

The colony of New South Wales considered the issue of "terra nullius" ["land not occupied"] in the 1820s, but the author mercifully skips over the issue of whether displacing or killing Aborigines was "legal" or not. Instead, he views it as the attitude and the practice of Christian European settlers and miners as they crossed the continent. Until recently, only a few accounts made any effort to bring the Aborigines into historical narratives. Lindqvist makes the most of what he can find to depict the atrocities perpetrated against them. Beyond merely shooting them, Europeans also turned to the seizure of children to be trained in "mission" stations to be domestic servants or road and farm labourers. In addition to simply breaking up families with this tactic, the removal of children dismantled the entire social structure of the culture. With firm ties to particular areas of the countryside and ancient traditions regarding who could marry among the various "moieties", Europeans demolished millennia of finely-tuned cultural foundations.

As a literary historian with a broad outlook in philosophy, the author carefully examines the options facing the white population of Australia. How much guilt is to be recognized when you're living in a place so blatantly wrested from an indigenous population? How much responsibility is there for an individual in those circumstances to consider or bear? It's interesting that Australians have had sufficient sense of conscience to implement a "Sorry Day" in recognition of the injustices done to original peoples. Court cases finally introduced [almost] full citizenship, some justice for recent murders and, most significantly, recognition of what "land rights" implied. Regrettably, the federal government of the time [recently overturned after an over-long tenure] immediately attempted to impose new restrictions on access to sacred places. Even so, some halting first steps have been taken. It will be interesting to watch whether Lindqvist's account provokes Australia into more constructive steps into the future. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

As just another digger I found this book to be most worthy.
Having been through the training regimes as recommended by Ted Serong in Australia and having the understanding of the type of war we were involved in I could never understand the manner in which the Americans fought the war.
After reading this book I now understand it to have been a distrust of non American ideas and arrogance of the"we know better" type and impatience, thinking always that bigger is better rather than looking at quality.

The Vietnam War, and especially the reasons for its loss, from both military and political standpoints, will continue to be a matter of importance for those who are concerned with the survival of democracies.

Much has been written on political considerations, but military questions have been more neglected. Hence this book, which examines the role of Brigadier Ted Serong in the conflict, will be of great interest to a variety of readers.

Anne Blair is a research associate with the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University. Her interest in Serong is well-based. He had a central role in the development of military strategy and tactics, although to a large extent his views conflicted with those ultimately applied by the United States in Vietnam.

Early during his time in Vietnam, Serong concluded that the American forces were not properly directed, and that the South Vietnamese Army also should have directed its efforts in different ways.

He was involved in the development of the Police Field Force (PFF), with the aim of destroying the structures of the Vietnamese Communists in rural and mountain areas, and also the networks by which guerrillas obtained weapons, food, information and recruits.

Serong's concept (which is particularly persuasive in retrospect) was that the PFF would clear areas of Viet Cong influence, thus freeing the South Vietnamese Army (the AVRN) for combat against the North Vietnamese regiments that were operating in the border areas.

Unfortunately the United States forces showed a lack of patience, and were not prepared to support adequately the gradual advance of the program.

The PFF was absorbed by other US mission programs in 1966-67, but Serong himself remained invaluable and was consulted constantly by government advisers and by military commanders at the highest level.

At all times, his perceptions of the strategic position were sound. For example, he was one of the first to appreciate that the 1968 Tet Offensive constituted, contrary to media reports, a militarily disastrous loss by the Communists.

This book is very valuable. It is well researched. The author had the advantage of numerous conversations with Serong, and her account is expressed carefully, with much detail and appropriate references.

It is impossible to read it without concluding that Serong is a great Australian, and a great man in any context, a figure of enormous importance whose advice, had it been followed properly, would probably have led to a different result in Vietnam.

It is therefore a book which, in addition to its general readership, should be studied closely by military strategists and tacticians, and by the various academics, think-tanks and institutes which are so influential in the application of political and military policy.

- I.C.F. Spry, News Weekly book review, Melbourne, Australia

I've been searching for a book other than a tourist's guide to New Zealand to learn more about my husband's home country. This is the book! Filled with lots of relevant (and recent) information, including gorgeous photos, this book is amazing. I can't wait to visit this beautiful country with him and see it for myself!

I recently bought my first copy of this book in the Auckland airport. I ordered my second copy for a friend. In addition to being a beautiful "picture book" with photos the quality that I wish I had taken while there, this book provides extensive text with factual information on most aspects of life in New Zealand ranging from the land and its climate, its fauna and flora to its history and the quality of life there today. This is a great book for anyone planning a visit or wishing to recall the special beauties of this wonderful country after returning from a visit. Or you may "visit" this country through this book. It is a very up-to-date publication, we even recognized photos of some of the same Maori performers we saw in concert during our recent visit! This is a very comprehensive publication, I think that it is outstanding!

I was recommended this book by a friend. I must say I was a bit apprehensive as I am not normally into Travelogs, but I must say I really enjoyed it. My only criticism, is that it could have done with some photos of the places that were visited, but other than that... a great read. Australia is certainly more wacky than I realised.

I very much enjoyed this novel and found it to be a real page-turner in that it was a tale of endeavour and continually emergent experiences. This novel touched on an area most Australian's seem to be little aware of and seem themselves to experience almost as a foreign country most notably the centre and north of this massive country/continent. Indeed an area that most of us won't experience whilst traversing the urban parts so well advertised by the brochures. As such I found it a fascinating contrast from that given by the rather conservative and urbanised travelogues I'd read on this country by Bill Bryson's `Down Under' although in itself an interesting travelogue. Bill Bryson's travelogue was the last book I bought for my brother when he left for Australia three years ago, this will be my next one.