Australia Books

Peter Pierce's critical study 'The Country of Lost Children: An Australaian Anxiety' is an important contribution to Australian literary criticism. The work surveys the development of the lost child motif in literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It theorises that the motif embodies human (and colonial) anxieties about the vast and untamed natural environment of nineteenth century literature, folktales and visual arts. He asserts that over time, this preoccupation has shifted to a more inward societal critique of the potential for danger and menace in humanity itself. Pierce draws on ficition, theatre (briefly), film and true stories, demonstrating the pervasiveness of this trope in collective memory, lived experience and the imaginary. This survey opens the field to more detailed critical study of texts, broader cultural formations and the reasons for this phenomenon, as well as ongoing analysis of the potency of the figure of the child in the Australian consciousness, especially when we think about the future. More study of popular culture and true stories would be beneficial to this project. Overall, an important contribution to Australian studies.

Jennifer Bacia knows how to 'Create Popular Fiction'. She practically pioneered the genre here in Australia some twenty years ago. Before she came along with her first book "Shadows of Power", the Australian book scene was either dominated by novelists from overseas, or the shelves of bookstores were lined with literary fiction (which not many want to read) by Australian authors, or non-fiction titles.

I actually attended a short course run by this author back in the early nineties, and the course was definitely well worth the time and money spent. Soon after completing the course I bought this book and still have a copy to this day.

Writing popular fiction is not about being literary, and it's not about writing some superfluously worded masterpiece that will be remembered for centuries to come.

It's all about entertainment, escapism, pacy writing, solid and interesting plots and, above all, strong characters that the reader can relate to and live the story with.

This book reveals to potential authors the secrets to popular fiction writing, and offers much needed tips and advice on how to apply the required techniques in novel writing.

This book (and others like it) should be in the collection of every aspiring fiction writer.

Real Life Dramas - Volume One

Darren G. Burton

The AAT is nearly 25 years old, yet it still manages to hold its head high in international comparisons of effective optical telescopes. In terms of citations, the AAT ranks near the top in international terms.

The book is a history of the birth and construction of the telescope. It is the only popular acccount, and as such is an important source of information for anyone wanting to know about this trail-blazing telescope.

The book is a logical sequential account of the birth of the telescope. The writing suffers a little by being shared between three authors, some of whom are more accessible than others; but this is a minor quibble in what is otherwise an authoritative account of an important instrument.

This lovely book contains a number of patterns, each of which uses a range of different techniques for tatting with beads. The book starts out by covering the range of ways in which beads can be added to tatting, how to get beads onto the thread, different types of beads to use and the birthstones and items associated with birthdays and anniversaries. She also provides a list of abbreviations and descriptions of special techniques such as block tatting and split ring work, and an interesting history appears in the introduction.

The book contains a selection of 17 patterns which are fully illustrated with diagrams and described also in text. Some interesting techniques are covered such as a braid which uses three pairs of tatting shuttles or three needles, a lovely bridal coronet which is encrusted with beads, a free style picture and a large doily.

This is an attractive volume which will be easy to carry around because it is close to the size of an A5 piece of paper. It is also sold under the title of "Tatting Adventures with Beads, Shuttle and Needle".

France is in crisis. A right-wing general with leanings towards neo-Nazism is calling on the French people to rise up against immigrants. Rioting breaks out in cities, but is it really what it seems? Is someone engineering the crisis to change French leadership? Then to top it all, the French President and his ministers are killed when their TGV train is firebombed on a bridge and plunges into an abyss. Who can save France, and ultimately the stability of Europe? Rene Lasalle, head of French counterespionage sends for Britain's best SIS agents Tweed, Paula Grey and international foreign correspondent Bob Newman, along with trusty rifleman Marler. Can they stop the general in time before tanks roll on Paris armed with chemical artillery? Who is the mysterious assassin Manteau, who is blackmailing the general into paying him extortionate sums for carrying out orders? This book is a real page-turner! And of course, Tweed and his motley crew get to drink loads of wine and champagne in between drawing their enemies out into the open and cheating death! This is what makes a Colin Forbes novel worthwhile. Don't miss this one!

Highly recommended, there is an excellent chance that this book is the one for which you have been searching. Written by two Australian veterans of the war in Vietnam and standing as a tribute to all who served in that conflict, Crossfire is a unique look at the way in which a specialized Australian infantry platoon operated as a reconnaissance unit in the field. While the style of writing is at once both raw and gritty, it is nonetheless a book with a great deal of soul. It tells the story of how a bunch of blokes at the sharp end, fought (and in some cases, died) in what became Australia's longest and most divisive war. Like so many "Diggers" who went before them, they did their duty and more. They laughed together, felt pain and sometimes cried together, but throughout, maintained that very Australian characteristic in the face of adversity: a stoic determination to see the job done, no matter what.

Crossfire is much more than just another war story, however. It goes beyond the jungle-bashing and the contacts and the firefights; beyond the heat and the sweat and the sometimes gut-wrenching fear that were the essence of the grunt's war in Vietnam. The authors have adopted a mode of presentation that works extremely well and complements the theme of the main narrative. Interwoven with the exploits of the Reconnaissance Platoon as it sought to come to grips with its task in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam, is a separate but complementary story focused on the present. It looks briefly at a small group of veterans, some thirty years after the event, as they seek a kind of cathartic release while camping and hiking in the Flinders Ranges, that area of rugged but serene, natural beauty in "outback" South Australia.

Based on incidents and events that actually occurred, Crossfire not only holds the interest all the way, but in many places reads like a best-selling novel. Indeed, it is one of those rare books, which once started, is entirely difficult to put down. This is a very worthy addition to the genre, and it is a credit to Peter Haran and Robert Kearney that they have captured so faithfully what it was to be in action on the ground in Vietnam. If you are a veteran of the Vietnam War, then in a very real sense the incidents and events portrayed in the book will have an uncanny knack of taking you back there. It will take you back to another time and another place - to a conflict and an era that you have known intimately, and which will forever feature in the history of the Australian soldier at war. If you are not a veteran and you read no other book on the subject, you must read this one. As Lieutenant General Peter Cosgrove, Chief of the Australian Army, says in the foreword to Crossfire: "Read this story. Read about these Australians. They are so ordinary but so extraordinary - they are heroes."

Most Catholics, and the world at large, recognize the San Damiano crucifix, even if they don't know what to call it. This little booklet (only 32 pages) examines the icon on the cross, section by section and describes the possible meanings locked within the picture.

Did you know that Mary the Mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalen are both next to Jesus on this crucifix and both stike similar poses of grief?

Did you know that the author might have included a small self-portrait within the painting?

Did you know the original crucifix is 6'10" tall?

Did you know this MIGHT not be a depiction of Jesus at his crucifixion, but rather at his ascension?

These and many other thoughts were new to me. I'm going to have to go exchange my crucifix for a larger one that is easier to meditate upon!

This book, plus the next two in the trilogy, are fantastic. They combine love, hate, betrayal and revenge in a story of two families that are linked by blood and circumstances that neither family can control. The strong links between Indigenous Australians and their spirituality was well researched and written, and it was good to read an accurate account of the mounted police and their duties, however disturbing most of it was. I highly recommend this trilogy by a very talented writer as I was left moved both as a reader and an Australian.

This book was a god-send. I bought it after my baby was born, and wish I had gotten it before. I had a very difficult baby who had major dramas sleeping. This book offered lots of very helpful advice, and helped debunk some of the myths out there.

This book is a must read for any expectant parents.

The Cultivation Of Whiteness: Science, Health, And Racial Destiny in Australia is a region-specific, college-level collection which is strong in anthropology and which Australian or multicultural studies will find to be a revealing survey of science and racial destiny. In 19th century Australia doctors were the main commentators on race and biological differences - this examines their perceptions of racism and differences between whites and other cultures, using the foundation of science and medicine as a basis for surveying and even experimenting upon other peoples. An eye-opening set of revelations.