I used this book to plan our 5 week driving tour of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. We found wonderful places to stay and eat. The ratings and comments were all accurate. Wonderful trip. If you go - take a copy of the Fodor's guidebook and spend most of your time in the countryside.

The book gave me execellent tips on travelling in Austalia, especally the part of accomodation in Melbourne. The content of public transport was good although some of the fares listed was outdated.

Please bear in mind that the book was not for budget travellers. However, the recommendations of the book were value for money.

Finally, it would be much better if there were more maps.

Freedom or Death is a collection of stories about the most dangerous aspect of the Australia prisoner of war experience - escape. Here is all the adventure, suspense and courage of ordinary Australians who defied their captors; men willing to risk death in order to overcome almost impossible odds in the loneliest war of all - the fight for the right to be free. In Freedom or Death we meet Australian POWs from all walks of life and all theatres of war: one who fled a German work camp during the Great War; another who escaped from the legendary Colditz Castle and an airman who brazenly attempted to fly a German Messerschmitt back to England. We also re-live the tragic saga of the brutal Japanese death marches across North Borneo, from which six Australians escaped to become the only survivors from 2000 POWs on the march. We follow the incredible journeys to freedom from the Japanese-held islands of Ambon and Hainan by some resolute members of Gull Force. The author, Colin Burgess, is also the author of several children's books and adult non-fiction including The Diggers of Colditz (with Jack Champ), Prisoners of War and Barbed Wire and Bamboo (both with Hugh Clarke). These tales of valour, sacrifice and grim survival are Australia's great escape stories, true stories of suspense and the indomitable spirit of ordinary men determined to escape - or die.

I cannot rate this book highly enough - thorough research and incredible stories make it impossible to put down until the last page.

This book was a highly enjoyable read and really does the TV series justice. You get to share Palin's experiences throughout his journey in way that the TV series is unable to do. The little stories that he mentions like visiting the prison camp in Siberia, the offers from the "missie's" in China, and the references to his real life going on in the UK all create a memorable experience. Definetely my favorite out of all of his travelogues.

Michael Palin (of Monty Python fame) is more than funny: he's a perceptive and compassionate traveller! I loved his first two BBC travel series and their companion books, so when one day in Seattle, I read in the paper that the next evening he would begin a third, I made sure to tune in. I wasn't disappointed; from a remote Alaskan island so close to the International Dateline that Palin writes: "The Russian soldiers staring at me across the water have already had the day I'm having" to "the southernmost place of worship in the world, outside of Antarctica", this one is as good an armchair journey as any the BBC has produced. Something special: the photography is, as usual, superb, and there's an underwater sequence in the Philipines that has to be seen to be believed. So, either take a year off yourself (that's about what it took Palin), pack your own forty-eight (!) suitcases and spend your own mint to do this trip of a lifetime, or just do it with Mike Palin. After all, that's what books are for, isn't it?

I have been into Murcutt's work for a few years now, but I have been disappointed by the lack of good books on his work. Until now, the best book around was Phaidon's '3 houses'. The only projects I have been able to see have been single family houses in the middle of the australian brush--so it was pretty cool to see this book with houses (or at least A house) in an urban area as well as larger commercial type buildings (like the education center).

As far as I know, all of his projects are shown in the book--built and unbuilt in great detail. The first 30 pages or so of the book is a collection of essays by both the authors and Murcutt. Then the book gets into his projects chronilogically--each with photographs, sketches and drawings.

The last part of the book is a collection of 'blue-print' drawings showing the plans and more importantly the construction details of all his buildings--all in pretty good detail showing dimensions and materials.

Im stingy with my book money--but I definately feel like I got my money's worth outta this one.

The Pritzker laureate selected his favorite buildings for this handsomely illustrated monograph, with its insightful text by two Australian architectural professors who know his work well. Nearly a third of the pages are devoted to drawings that illuminate Murcutt's meticulous approach to design.

While everyone in this world seems to be keen to build more and more complicated buildings, that are later called sustainable (...) you should have a look at one of the more unknown top-architects of the XX century. Glenn Murcutt began in the sixties to mix modern influences with the traditional Australian Architecture and has since then produced a new style, that is not only wonderful in design but also features a great low-tech aproach to sustainable architecture.

note: green can look really cool!

I am presently studying architecture and find this book as a excellent resource book, I am also aware of my lecturers enthusiasm on this book. It has expanded my architectural vocab enormously this last 12 months. Congratulations to the author and also Mr Glenn Murcutt himself on a striking book, hope to read more of this material in the future

World War II in Micronesia laid a foundation for hundreds of books and thousands were written. For those of us who were there right after the war few books have recorded what it was like. This author, a naval captain of a Destroyer Escort, told his story and wove in history and the continuing story of the people. And he told the story we lived. Casual inspection tours of twenty islands in fifteen days. Landings that started in a small boat and ended swimming in across a rocky beach. Local administrators who had shamefully little support from the US government and still carried on trying to do a decent job. Priest and missionaries who carried on in the wake of war, building communities with Navy discards. Hopeless ocean searches that sometimes were successful. And a little boredom. For those who were there, a very true book.

I ran across this book looking for information about the USS Hanna (DE 449), a WWII Destroyer Escort ship named after Private Billy T. Hanna USMC, who died on Guadalcanal in 1942.

I highly recommend reading this to anyone interested in Micronesia and War in the Pacific. It is very readable and well worth the effort. Written by the USS Hanna's captain, Joseph C. Meredith, the book details the ship's patrols of Micronesia, and the Bonin and Volcano Islands in 1953-54.

Captain Meredith describes the seven patrols he captained, giving intimate observations on the islands they visited, the people, history and geology. The stories of the attempts of foreigners to discover, exploit and dominate the islands, provide a real understanding of the islands and their people.

His emphasis on Japanese influence on the islands gives a real understanding of WWII and the Pacific, of what it was like to be there, and of the reasons and strategy of the War in the Pacific.

He researched the history of Micronesia in great detail, providing an accurate view of how Micronesia became what it is today.

Hiking Tropical Australia: Queensland And Northern New South Wales is a comprehensive, "traveler friendly" walking guide to Australia's eastern tropical and subtropical regions. Covering an area of approximately 1600 miles beginning around Grafton (in northern New South Wales) and reaching down into the lower portion of wild, rugged Cape York Peninsula (in farm north Queensland), Hiking Tropical Australia coverage extends inland as well to include national parks such as Girraween and Carnarvon that lie in the transition zone between tropical and outback landscapes. Enhanced with more than 100 maps and pictures, Hiking Tropical Australia divides topical Australia into six zones defined by ecology and topography: the eastern and western scenic rims; sand, sea, and islands; escarpment and range; the granite belt; and far north Queensland, above the Tropic of Capricorn. Travelers will find precise directions for reaching all the parks and trails; difficulty ratings and notes about the special attractions of each hike; as well as vivid descriptions of what will be encountered along the way. Hiking Tropical Australia is a unique and invaluable guide for the vacationing visitor, and has a wealth of information helpful to native Australian as well.

I used the book this summer while traveling in the northern part of Queensland. I found it to be an ideal companion to the more general guides (Lonely Planet, Fodor's, etc.). The book helped my husband and me to figure out the best places to hike, when we had fairly limited time and many things we wanted to do. It provides the perfect amount of information in a useful format; for each hike the author lists trail distance, hiking time, level of difficulty, and main attractions, and then gives a helpful description of what hikers will see. The author also provides brief descriptions of parks and state forests. I like that the book describes hikes of varied lengths and difficulty. I highly recommend this book to people of any age or fitness who want to hike in the northeastern part of Australia.

In the wake of the Tampa crisis and the appalling problems in refugee detention centres in Australia and the expensive 'Pacific solution' for the processing of asylum seekers, this book is a timely wake up call. It traces how the term 'security' has been used by governments as an organising principle, as a justification for policy, as an emotive term to encourage support for policy positions and military action.

It's an important book with global resonance in this time of the 'war on terrorism' structured by a strong philosophical framework which helps us think in new ways about global politics.

This book is an incredibly important addition to what's available on Australian foreign policy and defence relations. It's particularly timely because of the Tampa crisis of late 2001, the current Liberal Government policy of mandatory detention and the 'Pacific solution' for asylum seekers.

It traces Australian history to evaluate how 'security' as an idea has been an organising force and powerful signifier used by governments for their own purposes. What has happened during and since Tampa proves the thesis of this book in a startlingly contemporary way.

The book also has a solid philisophical underpinning that gives the book wide relevance in international relations studies and should be compulsory reading for anyone interested in global politices.

This book will become influential I think, in how we perceive the current war on terrorism, in general, and Australia's invasion anxiety, in particular.

If you read only one "South Seas" book from the 1920s back, this should be the one. This Penguin issue corrects a number of inaccuracies from previous editions, including Stevenson's own error in their departure date (!) It is the classic travel and observation book of the Pacific. The early descriptions of the Marquesas are unmatched, as are the accounts of the several islands they visited in Kiribati (Gilbert Islands). The account of Tem Binoka will give you a real eye opening into an absolute ruler and his ways in the late 19th century. Reading this could start a life long interest in Pacific literature.

In his book, In the South Seas, Stevenson gives an accurate and in depth look into the people and culture of the islands of the South Pacific. The book describes Stevenson's two year journey from the Marqueses Islands, to Tahiti, then Honolulu ,and finally Somoa. Stevenson uses the great adventures he experienced and his masterfully writing skills to paint a breath taking view of the islands and thier many beauties.

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