Oceania Books

This volume of drawings with brief commentary By Bernard Smith, the foremost historian of Australian art, is of interest to students of both Australian history and art. Whilst not to everyone's aesthetic taste the early work of the very first European colonists in Australia has an undeniable vigour. It's the directness of their work that makes these images captivating - the collision of two irreconcilable cultures is captured here with an almost hullicanatory strangeness. Unfortunately the text is sparing, this is primarily a visual source, but as an object of beauty this book should be owned by all interested in the history of colonial Australia.

Great colour pictures, picture perfect pointbreaks, radical reefs, barreling beachbreaks, and more. An exhaustive review of surfspots in Oz, from the crowded pointbreaks of Surfers Paradise, to the empty soul surfing in the outback, this is a good buy for surfers, overseas or Aussie, thinking of a surf holiday in Oz. Tips on swell direction, tides, time of year to surf etc etc its all there, written by former world champion Mark Warren, and compiled by surfers from around the country. And one more thing, a few secret spots have been left out, which you can find on your own!

"Australia -journey of a timeless land" is a great book about a surely great land. The texts by roff smith present all the territories of the continent, góing from the north to the west coast, the southern vineyards to the eastcoast. Smith writes about the historical development, the social and political status quo, every time in a interesting way, often using a personal point of view, areporters point of view. The aborigines-tragedy has room as has the cruels of Tasmanias prisons of the 18th Century Really marvellous and overwhelming are the photographs of national-geographic stuff-member sam abell. Great landscapes, the special light of morning or evening gives the land a structure. Abell is able to bring the feeling of space on a simple sheet. And he captures with his mostley wide-angle optics decessif moments, where time and space meet at an certain point. And I think, time and space, open space are specific for Australia, that i have not ever visited. Sam Abell is a great artist, more than a photojournalist. You should read his "stay this moment"-book also. This australia-book is worth every dolllar.

Although I have not yet traveled with this book, I purchased it in order to help plan my upcoming vacation. This atlas contains quite a bit of additional information on Australia that I found to be helpful. I was particularly impressed with the detail pertaining to the description and quality of roadways and the available faclities for travelers. I found the format, photography, and writing style to be pleasant; the legends were clear and easy to interpret. However, as an atlas, I would have preferred that the larger maps be printed in such a manner that they would be displayed in their entirety by simply opening the book, as opposed to be divided between different pages.

This is a decent map. Has large scale views of the urban centers but it could be a little better in a couple of respects. There are no longitudes and latitudes on the map. This is not the 1st map I have run across with this problem. With all the GPS devices in use, you would think the map makers would have provided this helpful information. There is no index to the national parks. Trying to find them on the map is a real hunt and search task. Also rivers are not indexed, only towns.

I enjoyed navigating through this book and found it useful. The book gave me ideas and hints to make my trip more enjoyable

This book and its associated Website are very useful in organizing stays at b&b's throughout Australia, since there is no central organization like the AA in Britain to do so. I found all the information that I used in this book to be accurate, and many of the properties have their email addresses listed, enabling one to make reservations overseas without the necessity of expensive trans-Pacific c-telephone calls or faxes.

A few minor improvements are in order. First, some of the listings do not provide the Postcode (Zip Code) for the property. Second, some of the telephone numbers given in the book do not reflect the ahanges to Australia's telephone numbering system comleted in 1998. Third, the coverage outside of New South Wales, Victoria, Brisbane/Gold Coast and Cairns/Far North is kind of thin--of course, that may be because there are fewer properties there.

This a well written book covering the Royal Australian Air Force
from its origins as the Australian Flying Corps in World War 1 to
2001. The author expresses forthright opinions on politicians and
on senior RAAF officers.
As regards World War 2 he emphasises the significant contribution
made by Australian aircrew to the allied bomber offensive against
Germany and stresses the very high casuality rate.
He discusses the main aircraft types used by the force.
There are good photographs of significant players and aircraft.
All in all a most interesting book

i'm a kiwi so i haven't spent a lot of time looking at this book, but i take students from the USA to NZ eary year so i buy them this book. basically i like to let the students have a few days to themselves to explore and perhaps become a little independant. this book is very useful for them, particularily the maps and the restaurant suggestions.

i think a lot of tourists see auckland as a waypoint, somewhere they are forced to land but dont want to stay. if you are planning to go to NZ i would recommend spending a few days in auckland as it is a pretty dynamic city with some great food and scenery. it is also small enough that you can get from kelly tarltons to motat in the same day (look them up in the book). i would definitely recommend this book to anyone planning to spend a few days in auckland.

With so many ficticious accounts of battle out there, it is truly refreshing to read such a realistic insight into a soldier's life during war. Bravo, and thank you for sharing your experience, wisdom, and bravery with the world.