Australia Books

I researched Australia for over a year prior to my April 2002 visit there, and I read as many guides and books as I could find. While in Australia I purchased a local behemoth encycledia of the country, thinking that was as good as it gets.

I found the Insight Guide at my local library after I returned, and I am convinced this is THE single book anyone with more than a passing interest in Australia should buy.

The very heavy paper presents the beautiful color pictures in high resolution, and the articles are written in a complete yet entertaining style. Australian artwork highlights the history section. The sites of interest descriptions are entertaining and concise. I actually did not read the last section (travel tips)in depth since I had already returned from my vacation, but even without that section the book would be a great read.

This is NOT the book to carry with you on your vacation - there are plenty of other lighter guides that have more useful trivia like hotels and restaurants. This is the book to read and enjoy before you leave home. It is an excellent overall introduction to the country.

My daughter is beginning to study Australia in her 2nd grade class - I have ordered a copy to let her take to school.

I highly recommend this book. At the very least, check it out of your library to look at the pictures.

A wonderful book show me a beautiful Australia.
I like all of Insight Guide,and this is the best one.
I like Australia,I want living there

Over a million Americans passed through Australia between 1942 and 1945, and the U.S. military distributed this little volume to describe what they would find there. The U.S. Army's Special Service Division did what they could to acclimate the troops:

"Australians eat and drink too."

"The Australian has few equals in the world at swearing."

"Housewives 'down under' are supposed to make coffee with a pinch of salt and a dash of mustard, but that's probably just another Axis propaganda story."

"The worst thing an Australian can say about anyone is: "He let his mates down". A man can be a "dag" (a cutup) or "rough as bags" (a tough guy), but if he sticks with the mob, he's all right."

"Of course, the best thing any Australian can say about you is that you're a "bloody fine barstud"."

"You'll find that the Digger is a rapid, sharp and unsparing kidder, able to hold his own with Americans or anyone else. He doesn't miss a chance to spar back and forth and he enjoys it all the more if the competition is tough."

"Another thing, the Digger is instantaneously sociable. Riding on the same train with American troops, a mob of Aussies are likely to descend on the Yanks, investigate their equipment, ask every kind of personal question, find out if there's any liquor to be had, and within five minutes be showing pictures of their girls and families."

"There's one thing you'll run into - Australian's know as little about our country as we do about theirs. To them, all American soldiers are "Yanks" - and always will be."

This beautifully produced guide includes charts and illustrations. It touches briefly on geography, history and culture, and it emphasizes similarities between Americans and Australians. To promote unity, the guide advises that if one encounters a cultural inconvenience, "There's no use beefing about it - it's their country."

This is a very quick and amusing read, and makes a great present for any Australian friend if you are lucky enough to visit the country.

Robert C. Ross 2008

It is a warm and friendly guide to Australia and the Australians at a critical period in our efforts to build allies. A marvelous gift to send to all your Auzzie friends.

This book provides a good sampling of actuarial studies. It would not be especially helpful for studying for an exam.

This text is a good introduction for a beginner who want to know what an actury does. It introduces actuarial and financial maths. It also involves in some discussion on Insurance companies and their various policies.
Because it is an introductory textbook, it does not require high level of mathematical skills. Overall, it is a good text, deserve to read.

Dr. Clarkson presents a detailed and informative summary of all major aspects of invertebrate evolution. The book is organized in a step-wise fashion that introduces the reader to the main principles of the field of paleontology (including genetics, populations and micro- and macroevolution) and then moves into detailed descriptions of the various invertebrate phyla. Be aware that this is not your typical coffee table book; rather, it is written at a level best appreciated by those with a biological background or by introductory students in this field. Descriptions are appropriately detailed and concise and are accompanied by a wealth of similarly detailed drawings and images. I particularly enjoyed his chapters on molluscs, echinoderms and crinoids. It is a valuable accompaniment to other books that have been written on the Burgess Shale and early forms of non-vertebrate life. Both the armchair paleontologist and the professional will find this to be a most valuable addition to his or her collection of books on this wonderfully diverse group of ancient animals.

This very fine invertebrate paleontology textbook strikes a nice balance between focus on the paleobiology/taxonomy of the organisms and theoretical topics in the science. The well-crafted illustrations help to make the sometimes intricate details of fossil morphology clear. Clarkson has a knack for bringing forth key details that illuminate ancient organisms (e.g., the hysteresis mechanisms that control the liquid in cephalopod chambers), and he writes with a wry sense of humor (see the Lehmann quotation on p. 245). The importance of convergent evolution is apparent throughout the book, and is one of the main lessons to be learned from the science of invertebrate paleontology. The next edition of this book needs to stop calling the Ediacarans a "fauna" (the term "biota" is preferable, as we are not sure that Ediacarans were indeed animals). I also have quibbles with the higher taxonomy presented in this book for other groups. Overall, however, this is an outstanding presentation of invertebrate paleontology.

This book is excellent for any women that has even the slightest notion that they are in an abusive relationship. Regardless of the circumstance, Kay Douglas touches on all types of emotional abuse and helps the women on the road to self-healing.

In your darkest moments of misery and loneliness, when you don't know where and whom to turn to, Kay will guide you and give you all the support you need - above all practical, then emotional and psychological. When you are so depressed, confused and motionless what you need most is someone to tell you that you are neither worthless nor hopeless or insane. Kay will take you by the hand and lead you, gently and convincingly, and by the time you have read this book you will have travelled a long way. You will gain the courage and above all the knowledge how to leave the abusive relationship that has been undermining the very core of your being. Kay not only helped me to find the way out of my misery, but she unintentionally made my husband understand and listen to what I had been trying to tell him for such a long time. He secretly read all those parts I had underlined and he finally understood. It is too late for our relationship as husband and wife but we are making a new beginning as friends. We have an eight year old daughter and she loves us and needs us both.

Kay uses a simple and clear language. She had carefully selected a number of stories that women were willing to share with her enabling all those who feel abused in any way to identify with. Her own experience makes her words even more convincing.

The photography is awesome.

The is absolutely the best book I've seem on iris. The book is well laid out and very informative. Grosvenor is a leading authority on iris and comprehensively explains each genus as a group as to characteristics, culture and breeding. Then he gives detailed descriptions the best cultivars of each type. The photography throughout the book is fantastic and completes this book as a treasure!

Any fan of mythology will love this book. Brilliantly blends ancient Greek heroes with Arthurian Heroes and a Celtic backdrop. Fast moving story with larger than life characters. I wouldnt spoil the story for anyone but this is a must for any fantasy reader. The only fly in the ointment was Mr Holdstock's chronological displacement of Greek mythological events. The Argonauts came first and then the Trojan War because one of the argonauts was Peleus, Achilles father. In fact it was Peleus' wedding that leads indirectly to the Trojan war. When Eris was not invited to the festivities she cast a gold apple to the guests which was to be given to the fairest. That apple became the prize that Paris later awarded to Aphrodite in exchange for Helen of Sparta. That being said it in no way spoiled the story any more than the changes made to the recent movie Troy. I am eagerly awaiting the third book.

Seven hundred years have passed since Merlin and Jason (see CELTIKA) searched for the Golden Fleece, but now the magician resides in Alba where he receives three warnings including one about a man who wants him dead for betrayal. Also Merlin is warned to beware of a being used by a man and a ship that is more than a ship.

Merlin travels to Ghostland to rescue the children of the warlord Urtha at about the same time that Jason sailing the Argo arrives in Alba still seeking his son Kinos the "Little Dreamer" after failing in his reconciliation with his older boy. Merlin joins Jason on his quest to the Otherworld, where the latter's wife Medea probably has hidden Kinos from him. Jason believes the Mage is assisting him out of guilt because Merlin's first love Medea faked the deaths of the sons she had with Jason. Still the Argo captain wonders if he can trust the magician once they locate Medea who may have Merlin under her spell.

Combining English and Greek mythology, Robert Holdstock provides the audience with a delightful fantasy as the audience will enjoy the exploits of Merlin and Jason as they struggle to find the lost lad. Though some of the early fantasy scenes seem unnecessary, this epic tale is exciting non-stop action especially once Jason arrives on the scene. The second Codex tale is a treat for Camelot fans and Greek mythos readers who will want to hitch a ride on the Argo as the adventures in Otherworld are fun to follow as the two heroes each know that love can blind the purest.

Harriet Klausner

This is a book about the Japan that even Japanese urbanities unfortunately do not know. I recommend it for anybody seriously interested in the anthropology of the different native people of Japan and their heritage. It is easy to read and first hand report. I felt touched by the interviews. However, to have a whole picture, I suggest to read it after you know the stereotypes of Japan that are written in most of introductory books in the market, or better, after you live there for some time. I have read other books about indigenous people of other lands, and many times I finish with sadness, for the loss of their treasures and way of life. Preface of this book mentioned something that I felt very valuable. It said that Mr. Suzuki purported to show that such native people may provide a clue to the future, to our survival. I appreciate your message very much, Mr. Suzuki.

Abe-san's review elsewhere on this page focuses on the treatment of the Ainu in Hokkaido -- Japan's indigenous people -- and indeed, this is one of the issues that Suzuki and Oiwa's work takes up; but it IS only one of the issues. Suzuki, for those of you who don't know, is a Japanese Canadian who, like many others, was forcibly relocated with his family as a child during the Second World War. The Canadian government, in a move they since have apologized and made token reparations for, confiscated the property of all persons of Japanese ancestry on the west coast and sent them into the interior of the province to camps, similar to Manzanar in California. Suzuki, driven to excel by these experiences, to prove himself as a Canadian, grew up to become a political activist and passionate environmentalist (and TV celebrity, university professor, etc). Oiwa, the co-author, believed himself ethnically Japanese until discovering that his father was a Korean -- a revelation, since Koreans are not treated as equals by some Japanese, and there are enduring tensions from the days when Japan occupied Korea. Together, the two writers travelled to Japan to probe into many current political problems, with considerable concern for the environment and aboriginal issues, but also dealing with political problems in Okinawa, the tendancy in some circles in Japan to deny guilt for war atrocities, the treatment of the burakumin, Japan's "untouchable class," and issues that spring up from the Japanese concern for treating "outsiders" differently from "insiders" (Japanese who grew up in South America are interviewed, for example, about being treated like outsiders in their own country). Everything they write is supported by excellent interviews. The emphasis of the book is NOT on criticising the Japanese right or such, however, but rather speaking with people in Japan who are fighting to change things -- including Katsuichi Honda, a controversial author who has written a substantial book on the Nanking Massacre (and who actually visited China for purposes of research). Suzuki's main concern in his work has been the environment, so much attention is given to farmers experimenting with alternative, back-to-nature methods of farming - more than interested me, but environmentalists might feel otherwise. I'd recommend this book for anyone concerned about Japan.

In this gripping and controversial biography, Anne-Maree Whitaker uncovers the role of Joseph Foveaux, a neglected and sometimes unfairly criticised key figure in the colony's development.

The vivid prose plunges the reader into the worlds in which Foveaux moved: the elaborate milieu of parliamentary politics and patronage in London, and the rough and tumble of the colonies of Norfolk Island and New South Wales where he was lieutenant governor.

We meet the irascible William Bligh, the visionary Lachlan Macquarie, leading colonists including John Macarthur and D'Arcy Wentworth and an enormous cast of supporting characters in Britain and the colonies.

"I have never yet met with any Officer...that is more eminently qualified for forming and conducting to maturity and perfection any infant colony committed to his charge," wrote Governor Macquarie in 1810, praising Joseph Foveaux, the man who had presided over the colony of New South Wales since the controversial Governor Bligh was relieved of his duties two years before.

If you saw any of the Sydney during the Olympics, you are sure to find this account of its early years a fascinating revelation. Based on the life of Lieutenant Governor Joseph Foveaux, demonised in Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore, this book reveals the links and patronage networks which held the British empire together. I liked the way the author in each chapter flung the reader into a physical description of the place where the action happens. And I even found myself caring about Foveaux's successes and setbacks. This is a warm, elegantly written and compelling new departure in Australian historical writing.

(...) "The Judy Blume Diary" is meant to be written in for approximately one year. There are, on average, 11 pages per month to write on, containing a quote on each page from various Judy Blume books, such as "Tiger Eyes", "Forever...", and "Deenie". There are also a couple dozen black-and-white photographs of young adults, all of which is meant to inspire the writer. By the end, there are a few pages for you to reminisce on how you've grown/matured over the year and what you expect to accomplish in the next year. There is also a place for addresses, phone numbers, important dates, and even a calendar, but only for the years 1986-8 (in the 1985 British version published by Piccolo).

(...)

Even though I don't intend to use this book as a diary, it's still great to have if you're a diehard Judy Blume fan (which I am). Another good book that benefits children (as well as parents) is her nonfiction book, "Letters to Judy: What Kids Wish They Could Tell You", which I highly recommend.

While growing up, Judy Blume was my favorite author. When shepublished the Judy Blume Diary I was the first person that I know ofto have one! The passages from Judy Blume's books, throughout thediary, will remind you of all the innocence of childhood that once was. This is a highly recommended keepsake for all Blume fans!