Australia Books

I came across this book almost by accident and I was surprised by how easy to read and useful it is.
The prices and costs may not be up to date but these can be determined by surfing the net. Well worth the price and the effort.
Like I said, a must - read for anyone headed to Australia for over 3 weeks.

Bear in mind however that this version has not been updated for a few years.

I truly enjoyed reading this book as I was able to learn the most essential aspects of living and working in Australia. This book features great advice on how to prepare yourself for the big move "Down Under", and what to expect from this new country. It also gives you a reality check on life in Australia as a new immigrant with all the challenges one must face. I really enjoyed the detailed list of "Aussie Real Estate Jargon" as I will need to refer to it when I will be looking for an apartment in Sydney. There are so many useful and practical information and advice in this book such as tips on how to find a job. This book has given me the confidence to move to Sydney as I feel prepareed and armed with the right information needed to make a good start Down Under. I have also read others books on "Living and Working in Australia", and this book is the best so far as it has the highest quality of content compared to the other ones.

I truly enjoyed reading this book as I was able to learn the most essential aspects of living and working in Australia. This book features great advice on how to prepare yourself for the big move "Down Under", and what to expect from this new country. It also gives you a reality check on life in Australia as a new immigrant with all the challenges one must face. I really enjoyed the detailed list of "Aussie Real Estate Jargon" as I will need to refer to it when I will be looking for an apartment in Sydney. There are so many useful and practical information and advice in this book such as tips on how to find a job. This book has given me the confidence to move to Sydney as I feel prepareed and armed with the right information needed to make a good start Down Under. I have also read others books on "Living and Working in Australia", and this book is the best so far as it has the highest quality of content compared to the other ones.

This travel book on Samoa is full of information to help one maximize a trip to Somoa. It has some great descriptions of Samoan history and places of interest. I am worried though. I am worried that if ever go to Samoa I will not know how to properly act. The author of this travelogue time and time again warns the reader about Samoan cultural mores which should be followed. But I am afraid I will forget some of them and be a shameful traveler.

This book is PACKED with information! It is also a really great size (smallish) to tuck in my travel bag and take along to be sure not to miss anything on my first trip to Samoa. :o)

This book has everything you need to know when travelling to Samoa. Nothing is missed and you should be able to plan a long or short stay in Samoa. Everything is as described in the book and nothing is really out of date. The only problem is that some of the maps lack detail to be useful, however quality maps are available in Apia.

`This volume is a welcome addition to the study of architecture from archaeological perspective ... this body of data from the rural city of Armidale will provide useful comparative material for similar studies undertaken in other former British colonies, for example, in the United States and South Africa. '

Historical Archaeology, 35:2 (2001)

`Heather Burke has produced a very important, perhaps landmark study using archaeological evidence to interpret and understand the evolving boundaries of class and status in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I recommend this book to all historical archaeologists interested in issues of class structure, ideology, material culture or reading building fabric.'

Australasian Historical Archaeology, 18 (2000)

`The study of capitalism challenges archaeologists and thus it is impressive when a scholar succesfully rises to this challenge. Meaning and Ideology in Historical Archaeology meets this challenge and should be read by any scholar interested in understanding capitalism.'

American Antiquity, 66:1 (2001)

I am an elementary teacher and I use these books in my class to supplement our Character Ed program (which isn't the greatest). My students love the Little Miss and Mr. Men books. I have to keep them behind my desk and let them "check them out" like library books or they fight over them. The are excellent to use in a pinch if you have a book that pertains to a problem that has developed in class (especially rudeness or bossiness). It is easy to read the book and have a quick class chat about what is going on. I highly recommend all of the books for anyone who teaches, home schools, or children in general. They are a great asset.

We can ALL relate to this installment in the Mr. Men series. A man who talks too much, all the time, and about nothing in particular. However in this story a solution is found via the magic of a magic hat!
After chatting to the hat maker all day long the hat maker orders a magic hat!
This hat grows ever time Mr. Chatterbox chatters aimlessly about nothing much in particular. When the hat finally reaches the ground Mr. Chatter box is quite perplexed. After some silence on his part the hat shrinks back to its normal size. After a few of these hat incidents Mr. Chatterbox finally learns his lesson! And everyone lives happily ever after.

The Mr. Men series is really wonderful for kids 5-8 years old. Each book tells a simple story with an important (yet easy-to-understand) moral. The illustrations are very bright, colorful, and humorous. Adults enjoy reading it along with their kids.

Mr. Chatterbox teaches the reader about modesty and the importance of listening. As his name suggests, he talks too much! His friends find a clever way to keep him quiet and make him a better listener. Could this apply to me as well as to my child?

I first came into contact with Mr Greedy when I was seven, and I haven't looked back. He's truly changed my life. I wanted to be Mr Greedy, but they wouldn't let me. Instead, I purchased the entire collection of Mr Men books from my local bookshop, and gave them to my sister for Christmas.

Sorry for the randomness of this review, but I'm insane.

Mr Greedy tells the sad tale of a man who can't stop eating. Try as he might, he wants to eat everything in sight. Will Mr Greedy be able to cut back on his eating? Or will his greediness be the end of Mr Greedy? Read it and see!

Mr Greedy, along with Mr. Strong, is undoubtedly the top title in these books by Roger Hargreaves. As Sir Jonathan Hawkins MBE OBE Phd MP Esq. so eliquently put it "Roger Hargreaves is the ultimate children's writer and is a real aid to the little children that I so dearly love", and so the same can be said for all of us! In fact, as he is also a lecturer in child studies at Cambridge University, one of his students (who also happens to be his son, Jonathan Hawkins Jnr.) said that this set of books could be seen as a metaphor for the unpredictable upbringing of many children in our topsy-turvy society. The Mr. Men titles are a must read for all children, make sure that Mr. Greedy is part of your collection!! Mr. Greedy is about one particular character who cannot stop his eating habits, his friends try in various amusing ways to help their buddy out!

This is a richly detailed, and very touching book about one place though history. Although it is a children's book, adults will find plenty to interest them, especially if they have an interest in history. There are maps drawn by the characters of where they live that are interesting to observe for the continuity through time. Wars, immigration, and environmental change all play a part. Some things remain the same.

I use this book in class rooms all over the place, from 6 year olds to 12 year olds. I am currently planning a 10 week program of literature and art around this book for 10 year olds. The older kids appreciate the things that the younger kids don't pick up on,eg: family relationships between different characters at different times. It a great jump start to talking about Multiculturalism in Australia and how this came about, where the different nationalities came from and why. Discussions about war are also valid. I am using it to focus the kids on their place, physically and metaphorically, we will be creating our own maps and writing to go with them. We are then going to 'publish' them in our own book and hold an exhibition of the original art works in conjunction with their completed page and the completed book.

This book came out in 1988 during Australia's bicentennial of the European invasion of Australia. It shares a title with a book by Sally Morgan, an Aboriginal women whose search for her own identity and place was published at the same time. This book can be read in either direction. For younger children, it may be easier to start at then end an move forwards. For older children, part of the fun is in uncovering the history of the place - an inner urban area of Sydney.

The book emphasises the timeless continuity of the place, and that even though we might be the temporary custodians of a piece of land, we share a common history and linkage through our humanity, and our Aboriginal history. Lushly illustrated by Donna Rawlins, and words by Nadia Wheatley. A valuable asset to any school library, primary or secondary, and public library, as well as the shelves at home.

My son first showed interest in t at about age 4, and has returned to it periodically since - ie over 2 years. It will stay with him for many years yet!

This is a much more thorough study of Congregational culture and doctrine than that of Perry Miller. Miller's work relied entirely on published weekday sermons. Stout mined the unpublished sermon notes of hundreds of New England preachers to find a balance that Miller missed. Stout convincingly shows that the ministers' commitment to the salvation of their listeners was always paramount, and finds a consistency in their messages that link the ministers of the 1630's with those of the 1770's. Stout finds few doctrinal differences between Old Lights such as John Cotton and New Lights such as Jonathan Edwards. It's a tough read (being intellectual history), but it's well worth the effort if you wish to get inside the Puritan mind.

Harry S. Stout (Ph.D., Kent State University) is currently a professor of American religious history at Yale University. Building on the groundbreaking work of Perry Miller, Stout published The New England Soul in 1986. The study is more extensive than its paperback size might suggest. The main body of the work covers nearly 150,000 words and is supplemented by 68 pages of extensive end notes. The work has become a standard text for college and graduate courses in colonial American history.

Stout's work centers on the content, role, and power of the sermon in Puritan (later New England) America from the first landings to the beginning of the American revolution. His thesis, which is strongly supported through the work, is that the sermon was the central agent in creating a cohesive culture that evolves toward eventual self-identity and independence. Drawing extensively on primary sources, Stout brings to the contemporary reader the piety and passions of the people whose culture forms the soil for the American nation.

Stout follows the sermon through five generations of New England preachers. These generations are marked by gradual but significant changes in the style and, to some degree, content of the sermon. These five generations he labels invention (1620-1665), arrangement (1666-1700), style (1701-1730), delivery (1731-1763), and memory (1764-1776).

These five stages are, he admits, not dramatic shifts as much as a continual evolution. Through these stages Stout demonstrates changes in style (from plain to "Anglican") and, to some degree, in content. He asserts, however, that the essential core elements of the sermon remain consistent, and that the changes reflect the sermon's adjustment to a changing environment. In this assertion Stout challenges to common suggestion that Puritan preaching displaced its original mission and passion over time.

The themes of personal piety and liberty, Stout demonstrates, are constant from the early sermons of John Cotton to sermons like that of Samuel West celebrating the liberation of Boston by George Washington in 1776. These themes are linked by a shared sense of cultural and religious destiny, the "city set on a hill" mission, in which American New England would fulfill the goal of Calvin's Geneva to create the perfect society in which the Kingdom of God might be fully realized on earth.

The New England preacher, more so than the statesman or soldier, was the preeminent power and power-broker in the Colonial period. The sermon was both soteriological and political, reflecting a conceptual marriage of church and state difficult for the contemporary reader to fully grasp.

One great value of Stout's work is, following in the steps of Perry Miller, he brings to the reader the words of voices long forgotten. While John Cotton, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and a handful of other divines have remained well known figures, at least to students of early American history, Stout brings to life the words of dozens of other preachers whose works and words are now preserved only in small numbers of rare books and pamphlets.

Stout effectively demonstrates how the sermons, especially of the eighteenth century, laid the foundation for the revolution and the birth of the American nation. The "messianic mission" of the early Puritans was malleable enough to be transfigured into the great battle, against the Beast of the British monarchy, to establish the independence of the colonies. Any student of American or religious history would be well served by including Stout's work in their must-read list. Any teacher of early American history should seriously consider adding this to any list of recommended texts. The contemporary student will be surprised at the multiple connections between religious and political thinking in early American life, as well as the pivotal role the sermon plays in the development of that life.

This is a great book by a brilliant historian who is deeply revered on both sides of the Atlantic. It will be the definitive work. Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)

This is an excellent discussion of Australian cryptozoological creatures. Debunks many myths yet leads the reader into a world of the possible. The book is thoroughly readable.

The section on the marsupial lion is "interesting" as there have now been 2 (indistict) videos of this creature shown on national television news! Still no bodies though!

An absolutley excellent book, exploring a number of the "mystery" animals of Australia such as the Queensland Marsupial Tiger and the Thylacine. Each chapter has an extensive history of the beast, as well as eyewitness accounts and more. The author never becomes carried away with the subject and declares that such animals DO exist, but deals with it in an interesting and logical manner. A must for any cryptozoology fanatics, especially those from Australia!

Horrified to see this listed as out of print ! I bought a copy in London at UnCon'99. Six mysteries of Australian and Tasmanian animals extinct or fortean in nature. Well written and very enjoyable. Many plates of the Thylacine and locations of sightings and well done illustrations of the various critters so dear to the hearts of armchair monster hunters everywhere.

James Boyd

Pucabob@aol.com

Pemulwuy was a leader of the Eora people - the Aboriginal langauge group that lived where Sydney now stands. This is the story of the resistance of the Aboriginal people to the invasion of their lands.

A gripping novel of an aspect of Australia's contact history not often written about.

This is an excellent fusion of history and creativity. It is a powerful tribute to the courage and spirit of the Aboriginal people who fought fiercely against European invasion in Sydney, and almost won. Hard to put down.

After spending years in the Australian educational system being told there was no resistance to white invasion (settlement) of Australia, reading this book 13 years ago was a revelation. I guess (I hope) there is much more literature around about aboriginal resistance these days, but this book is both educational and a good read. Buying it again.

Excellent read. I really liked this book. Starts out in England, 1820s, ends in "Tasmania." Great characterization. Highly recommended.

I was in Australia visiting friends when I heard about this novel. I bought it to read on the plane back to America. Usually if I read for pleasure it takes me a week or more to get through it just bits at a time. I could not put this book down to sleep or eat until I had read every single page. Mr. Courtenay has a way of putting you right in the middle of the story with so many colourful characters that will live on in your heart until you pass. If you love history, if you love seeing the little person struggle to come out on top to only be kicked down and struggle back up again then you'll love this book and the two others that follow.

PURE BRYCE COURTENAY. ANOTHER EPIC ABOUT THE STRUGGLES OF LIFE AND THE WILL TO PERSEVERE AND NEVER GIVE UP. IF YOU'VE READ THE POWER OF ONE, YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK. COURTENAY SHOULD BE BETTER KNOWN IN THE GOOD OLD USA