Published in 1974 this book illustrates the changing style of prints of the surrounds and people of Australia in the very early years.
There are some fantastic pictures included in here that would be difficult to find in a museum or library and, if ever found in an op shop, this is a nice little reference book to keep on hand - for both research and simple interest purposes.
Glenyse Ward's tale of 1 year of surviving working for pig-ignorant, horrifying upper class white people is both hair raising and an eye opener.
Published in 1987 the author was removed from her Aboriginal parents at birth in 1949 and brought up through a series of orphanages, missions and types of schools until she left to work for the white people at age 16.
Her refusal to be considered as a lower class of person - as the thought had probably never occurred to her before - was probably the one thing that stood her in good stead and helped her retain her sanity while working for these people.
This humourous little book was published in 1999 and is still a ripper.
Full of very funny zen-like pronouncements and sayings , but with an Aussie flavouring, it's a great mirth-inducing read to tuck into a pocket or handbag when out battling public transport travel and arrive with your sanity intact, due to this little book.
First published in 2001 I did not stop reading this book until it was completely finished - at some ungodly hour like 4am.
Set in a time period when steam trains are still running strong but the urban sprawl of Melbourne is creating new housing estates to spring up from former farms, this book parallels the on-coming possible train wreck of a marriage with the on-coming possible train wreck.
Told through the eyes of the engine driver's son from memories of that one night when, in hindsight, life paths and history was changed forever it is a tale of fiction but could be the memories of anyone and everyone.
LOVED it!
This is actually 2 short stories by the author Murray Bail, Camouflage and The Seduction Of My Sister, published in 2000.
Camouflage tells the tale of an unassuming piano tuner from Adelaide who is sent north to do his bit during WW2, while The Seduction Of My Sister takes the reader on a journey of odd twists and turns when a new family moves into an average suburban street.
Published in 1969 this book is a mixture of reminiscences, history and then-present observations of the Murchison goldfields in Western Australia.
The author lived in the area as a child and, coupled with her memories, are the tales of the pioneers she has researched like the chap who found gold and celebrated by shouting his horse champagne, a drunk Russian the police had to manacle to a log but who still managed to drag himself - and the log - to the nearest bar, the women who were also working just as hard as the men on these harsh goldfields and who helped carve out, not just an existence, but the townships that sprang up.
First published in 1960 this great little book is a time capsule of buildings, faces, maps and a multitude of long lost things unique to The Territory.
This was republished in 1964 by the Country Women's Association to help celebrate the Centenary of Exploration in the Northern Territory.
Camel trains, wild eagles being caught and readied for dinner, these are just a few of the fantastic photos and items included in this book.
First published in 1947 this is one of the funniest true books you're likely to find.
Clyde Fenton was a doctor who taught himself to pilot a plane and he covered the NT outback for 6 years before WW2.
While not, strictly speaking, an autobiography it is a book of his factual recollections of adventures, mishaps and miraculous escapes with many a chuckle along the way.
Clyde Fenton was a folk hero in the Top End long before he "had nothing better to do" and published his exploits for the first time in 1947; after that his was a well-known name for the sheer enjoyment this book brought to all readers.
This biography was first published in 1999, written by the subject's daughter, Roberta Edwards.
Bob Burkett was a larger than life character who wore many hats during his lifetime - racehorse owner, hotelier, hotel broker, councilman and mining entrepreneur but is best remembered as the owner of the Potshot Resort Hotel in Exmouth.
Bob passed away in 1992 but his daughter has spent untold hours interviewing and tracking down old friends and workmates who knew her father and here she has presented a humourous and wildly entertaining biography of a bloke you may have never known personally but will feel that you did after reading this book.
This is a fantastic book that I'm still working my way through.
Although first published in book form in 1935 and then reprinted in 1984, the author's memories were actually serialised in the local Dandenong newspaper, Dandenong Journal, that his family then owned.
The photos in this 1984 reprint are just as brilliant as any earlier ones may have been in the newspaper.
Each section is a fascinating snippet of an earlier age being painted clearly to the reader not from dry dusty descriptions garned from bland history notes but from a first-hand eye witness account.
It is the sort of book the reader can dip into from time to time or read it in full in one sitting, gobbling it whole like a ripe peach, but return to it for second helpings at any time and find them just as filling as the first reading.
Recollections of a lost pioneer cemetery from the 1850's on private property, the early pubs being built, pulled down and rebuilt in quick succession as owners were in fierce competition, and the local creeks overflowing and turning the main streets into fast flowing rivers replete with wild ducks that were quickly hunted with guns from the balcony of one of pubs; these are the brilliant sort of gems covering each and every page.