Their favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and digging holes. Here, in the words of one unusually articulate wombat, is the tongue-in-cheek account of a busy week; eating, sleeping, digging holes . . . and training its new neighbors, a family of humans, to produce treats on demand. This entertaining book, with its brief, humorous text and hilarious illustrations, will endear the wombat to young children, who may recognize in the determined furry creature some qualities that they share.

    A young passenger resolves to escape and is given the locket as a good luck charm. It saves his life when he is discovered washed up on the mainland shore by a tribe of Aborigines, who take him in give him a new life.This legendary story of disaster and depravity is told in alternating chapters with the story of the Galloway family, station owners, and the story of Darwin itself, from the day it was bombed by Japanese fighter planes during WW2 and nearly flattened, to that extraordinary Christmas Day in 1974 when Darwin was again devastated by ‘fury from the sky’: this time in the form of Cyclone Tracey.Following the course of the locket and the fortunes of the Galloway clan, Judy Nunn tells a breathtaking story of disaster, courage and passion and that Top End spirit that never says die.

    A job as a jillaroo takes her into the rowdy world of B&S balls, Bundy rum and boys. When she at last settles down to a bit of study at agricultural college, her life is turned upside down by the very handsome but very drunken party animal Charlie Lewis . . .Will she choose a life of wheat farming on vast open plains with Charlie? Or will she return to the mountains, to fight for the land and the river that runs through her soul?It's only when tragedy shatters her world that Rebecca finds a strength and courage she never knew she had, in this action packed novel of adventure, dreams and determination.

    Their mission: to chart a course across the vast unmapped interior of Australia, from Melbourne to the northern coast. Months later, only one man returned alive--with tales of heroism, hardships, and lost opportunities that were by turns terrifying and darkly comic.Drawing its title from one of the few remaining traces of the expedition, The Dig Tree combines the danger of Sebastian Junger with the irony of Bill Bryson to relive the tragic journey of these completely initiated adventurers. The cast of characters includes the expeditionleader; a reckless, charming Irish policeman known for getting lost on his way home from the pub; an eccentric nature enthusiast from Germany; an alcoholic camel handler; and a rogue American horse-breaker who is just in it for the money. For nine harrowing months, their quest for glory shifts from idiocy to perseverance and then inexorably toward tragedy. The nightmare culminates in a last haunting message left behind a group of desperate and dying men--the word DIG carved into what is now Australia's most famous tree.The Dig Tree follows this compelling journey through a forgotten corner of history to examine a daring expedition that came unbelievably close to success only to let it slip away.

    The Trail stretches along the East Coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine, through some of the most arresting and celebrated landscapes in America - the Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah National Park, the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts and the Great North Woods of Maine.

    He was the Treasurer who deregulated the economy; the weaver of Labor's modern story; its heavy weapon in the parliament. He was also the great enigma - a self-educated boy from Sydney's working class and a defining element of the head-kicking Labor right who loved Paris, Mahler and Second Empire clocks. Paul Keating did become Prime Minister. In December 1991 he wrested it from Bob Hawke and the bruises from that struggle were part of the baggage he brought to the job: the other parts included the worst recession in 60 years and an electorate determined to make him pay for it. Keating defied the odds and won the 1993 election, and in his four years as Prime Minister set Australia on a new course - towards engagement with Asia, a republic, reconciliation, a social democracy built on a modern export-based economy and sophisticated public systems of education and training, health and social security. Widely regarded as a quintessential economic rationalist, Keating's record clearly shows that his vision was infinitely broader and more complex. Don Watson was employed as Keating's speechwriter. Though a 'bleeding heart' liberal trained in history rather than economics, he became an advisor and friend to Keating. RECOLLECTIONS OF A BLEEDING HEART - based on notes Watson kept through the four turbulent and exhausting years of Keating's Prime Ministership - is a frank, sympathetic and engrossing portrait of this brilliant and perplexing man, and a unique reflection on modern politics.

    The discovery has been described as "the equivalent of finding a small dinosaur still alive on Earth."

    During the Great War he was a charismatic, controversial, and outstandingly successful military leader. An accomplished tactician and ‘the bravest of the brave’, he was renowned for never sending anyone anywhere he was not prepared to go himself. As a result, no Australian general was more revered by those he led or more famous outside his own command.A man of unimpeachable integrity and unwavering commitment, he was also forthright and volatile. His tempestuousness generated a host of anecdotes that amused his men and disconcerted his superiors.Yet surprisingly little had been written about Elliott until the original edition of this book appeared in 2002. Now in a new format and with a foreword by Les Carlyon, this comprehensive, deeply researched biography tells Elliott’s fascinating story. It vividly examines Elliott’s origins and youth, his peacetime careers as a lawyer and politician, and his achievements — as well as the controversies he aroused during his years as a soldier.Ross McMullin’s masterly work retrieves a significant Australian from undeserved obscurity. It also judiciously reassesses notable battles he influenced — including the Gallipoli Landing, Lone Pine, Fromelles, Polygon Wood, and Villers-Brettoneux — and illuminates numerous aspects of Australia’s experiences during his lifetime, particularly the often-overlooked period of the aftermath to the Great War.Reviews:'For readers interested in military history, and more broadly the society that shaped the first AIF, the book is close to a masterpiece of traditional biography, specific in scope and monumental in structure … McMullin’s book provides a great deal — at 700 odd pages, a great, great deal — to delight in.' - Stephen Matchett, Sydney Institute Quarterly'In the ultimate sentence of the book McMullin says: “an Australian as famous, inspirational, and historically significant as "Pompey” Elliott deserves to better remembered.“ With this book, the first fully researched account of Elliott’s life and times, McMullin makes a significant contribution to ensuring that this happens.’ - Geoff Pryor, Canberra Times‘A striking aspect of Ross McMullin’s scrupulous biography is how little Elliott has been exaggerated by posterity … Pompey Elliott is a large book, and rightly. It encompasses a period and individuals of more than mere military significance. It is difficult to dissent from McMullin’s judgment that Fromelles — an engagement not one in a thousand Australians would know of today, because it hasn’t occasioned a movie or mini-series — remains “perhaps the most tragic 24 hours ever experienced by Australians”, its losses being equivalent to the entire Australian casualties of the Boer War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War put together.’The assiduous McMullin has scored several scoops, including the revelation that Elliott argues successfully against an appallingly misconceived advance on St Denis Wood shortly after the battle of Mont St Quentin in September 1918—in the lives preserved, an achievement as considerable as any great battlefield coup.' - Gideon Haigh, The Age

    

    Lily Barton, now 53, is beautiful, adventurous and looking for a life change. Sami, her daughter, is driving alone through the outback to finally, reluctantly confront her family roots. Together they are swept into a world where legends, myths and reality converge. They find that everyone they meet has a story to tell, from Farouz, the son of an Afghan camel driver, to Bobby, the Chinese-Aboriginal man who is tangled up in the murder of a German tourist. And who is the mysterious artist hiding in the desert? All have a secret and a story to share as each finds their place under the Kimberley Sun.

    Yet, with the discovery of the first clue to her stolen inheritance, has come painful memories of the past. Jake Connor is a lawyer who crosses Miriam's path and she enlists his help. So begins the quest for truth.

    Taking readers into the depths of sadness and despair and into the heights of celebration and hope, this disturbing account details the trauma suffered by Australia's indigenous people and the resultant "trauma trails" spread throughout the country.

    Fruit ripens, lambs are born, hay is harvested. A Year on Our Farm shows the passing of the seasons through the eyes of the children for whom the farm and all its animals is home.

    Only hours before, the town of Darwin was winding down for the holiday season. Like many people that day, Josephine Foreman spent the morning cooking a large turkey for Christmas lunch; Geoff Crane took the opportunity to finish some last-minute Christmas shopping. Reports of an approaching cyclone were taken lightly - after all, the last cyclone had been little more than a storm with a bit more wind. Besides, it was Christmas...

    Risking his own freedom and career, Anthony sailed across international waters to Australia, to rescue from hellish imprisonment the group of British-soldiers-turned-Irish-rebels named "The Fremantle Six." The successful escape and hostility the vulnerable Catalpa overcame both from the British Royal Navy and furious seas make Anthony's historical voyage legendary. 8 pages of photographs add to this true story of daring on the high seas. "Narrated in fascinating and breathtaking fashion. ... The subject matter and fine writing make this book exhilarating."—Associated Press "A seafaring adventure, an Irish nationalist version of Treasure Island." —Chicago Tribune "Truth may routinely be stranger than fiction, but seldom is it as suspenseful as this story."—Publishers Weekly "Genuinely epic ... a fascinating adventure."—Kirkus Review

    As a reporter he has travelled all over the world, interviewing the likes of Arafat, Clinton, Blair, Adams and Saddam. He has seen despots and tin-pot revolutionaries; madmen and saints; the glory of the Olympics and the despair of hundreds of years of conflict in Ireland and the Middle East. Now he turns to the biggest story of his career: his own story and the story of his people, the story of the Wiradjuri.

    Here she meets the beautiful Anna, who everyone loves. But, as Caitlin is soon to discover, Anna has a secret that will soon change everything. Uncompromisingly acute in its depiction of the painful passage from adolescence to adulthood, Skating the Edge is a gripping read that will resonate with the reader long after the book is closed.

    A collection of cartoons, previously unpublished in book form, from one of Australia's living national treasures.

    Into a world of mystery and magic; Of mirrors held up to your psyche, Of enchantment and hope. From conversations with Kabbalistic archangels and entities most powerful, to beat poetry and challenges on love, to a story that will leave you lingering in the disturbance of non-ending because isn't that how life is? There is poetry and prose covering everything from witchcraft to the sensual to courage in the face of confusion and self-doubt. This is a unique collection presenting el duende in all its mystery ("Dark matter that threatens to become art"-Lorca).THE FEAST OF FLESH AND SPIRIT is a book of words, certainly, but also with a new expression-photographic portraiture in black and white: the Exquisite Survivor Collection: through word and image we will tantalise you with the desire for depth in a banal world.

    

    chanting with the enthusiasm that made them forget age & weakness & becoming young again in spirit.the rising and falling of the chant melody, like the breathing that gives us life - what an unforgettable scene!' Thus wrote T.G.H. Strehlow in 1935, as he began his life work, SONGS OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA, acclaimed as one of the great books of world literature. Prize-winning poet and historian, Barry Hill, with exclusive access to Strehlow's diaries, has written a major work about the troubled man who grew up on the Hermannsburg mission, became the first Patrol Officer of Central Australia, called himself the 'last of the Aranda', and compulsively collected secret-sacred objects and images. BROKEN SONG straddles a century of Australian history, from the race wars on the frontier to the modern era of aboriginal land rights, tracking Strehlow's creative and tragic life in translation.

    For over four generations the family has produced painters, architects, and sculptors of international standing. This family biography traces the emergence of an extraordinary artistic tradition and analyzes the distinctive family values that have sustained it. Not merely an art history or a coffee table book, this is a detailed, imaginatively written history of Australia’s most creative and distinctive artistic family.

    

    This institution, for children judged as identifiably of mixed race, was the place Molly had so famously escaped from a decade before." The life of an institutional orphan, as seen through the eyes of a child, is movingly revealed. In contrast are lighthearted incidents when young Doris' vitality and independence test the patience of the staff. Leaving behind the regimentation of assigned routines and endless regulations, Doris goes to Perth to train as a nurse's aide but the racist culture of an institutional upbringing leaves an indelible mistrust of her own people. This is the obstacle she has to overcome when as a wife and mother she makes the courageous but difficult choice to find her mother and father, and to begin the journey to reclaim her Mardu heritage.

    After the theft, mounting tension causes the group to fracture, bringing into focus an irrevocable violence both within and between them.Elsewhere a man whose heart is failing awaits a transplant while his wife helplessly watches his decline.Divergent strands of hope, rejection, loss and change unite these disparate characters in a novel which explores our dark side with arresting clarity, in luminous prose.

    In a society deeply divided on racial lines, Edward and Jessie met, fell in love and, against strong opposition, eventually married. Despite unrelenting surveillance and harassment the Smith home was a centre for Aboriginal cultural and social life for over thirty years.

    

    First-person accounts from fellow riders illustrate the challenges along the ride, including confrontations, intense street debates, and physical violence. Included are interviews from local residents, both black and white, who met the bus and struggled with the consequences. Pages from the author’s diary are included.

    These anticent artworks tell of the birth of the world, of the creatures who made the landscape and gave humans their laws, of contact with seafaring races from the north, and of fateful meetings with European arrivals. How do archaeologists read and interpret these artworks in order to better understand the people and societies that created them?Visions from the Past is a clear and comprehensive examination of Aboriginal rock art. It also provides a practical overview of precisely how and why archaeologists study prehistoric art. M.J. Morwood reviews the techniques, methodologies, and technologies that scientists employ and explains why their insights often cannot be gained through other types of archaeological evidence. The symbolic evidence found in rock art is virtually the only window into understanding the ideology, territoriality, resource use, and social organization of an ancient society.

    

    Kirri and Daniel are flung into a nightmare of suspicion and lies when the killers’ plan takes a terrifying new twist …

    Six years later he was with the British Yeomanry fighting in the South African Boer War of 1899-1902. Because his brother had been killed while fighting next to him, he would not go home and stayed in South Africa working in the gold mines of Johannesburg and the diamond mines of the Kimberly. From 1906-8 he was one of the volunteers fighting in the 2nd Zulu rebellion. After discharge he became a Patrol Officer in what is now the Kruger National Park. He did six, six monthly patrols with only his native carriers as company, seldom seeing another white person. Jack was in Australia when WWI started and he went down to the recruiting office at 4 a.m. hoping to be No.1 only to find 84 other keen males had got there before him. As No. 85 he spent 4 years in the 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment and was in most of the campaigns - Gallipoli and Romani. During the Charge at Beersheba he was awarded the DCM for his very brave action in charging a Turkish machine-gun and its 11 man crew. He was wounded four times and excluding the times when he and his fellow Light Horsemen charged into those Turkish artillery bombardments, that murderous fire from Turkish machine guns and their accurate rifle fire, and managed to come out unscathed, he did escape certain death on 9 separate occasions during his interesting, adventurous life. This is the story of my father. A man who asked for nothing more than to serve his country and protect its freedom.

    - 2002 marked the bicentennial of Matthew Flinders's journey

    This text examines how aspects of the Dreaming may have been linked to altered states of consciousness.

    

    She believed they originated in regular visits to the northern coast of Australia by Macassan fishermen from southern Sulawesi and nearby islands.

    Joan Semmens tells of the changing seasons as seen in a small area of bushland.

    Arguing that Australia’s political leaders have paralyzed the debate on civil rights and continue to look to the past for solutions, this book challenges the nation to act with its frank discussion of one of the most pressing moral issues confronting Australia.