When I found this book in my libary I picked it up and began to read it. After the prompting of a somewhat aggressive librarian I borrowed the book and read it while walking home (I don't recomend anyone do this).
I found it to be a fascinating read. It conveys the ordinary details of people's lives in a way that creates a voyeristic interest. The characters are very well developed and quite easy to like.
I suppose some of you American readers may be asking the question 'Where's Bankstown?" etc but I find it refreshing to read an Australian book, most of my favourites come from overseas.
I do recomend you buy this book. It has no passionate love affairs (Even if love is a theme present) or feirce battle scenes but it is not afraid to explore taboo characters like a mentalally ill grandmother. A very good read

For a true Kelly enthusiast,this wonderful book by Ian Jones has to be the pinnacle.I don't want to gush too much but quite simply,it is superb.It is far superior to his"Ned Kelly-A Short Life".Basically,it examines the lives of Joe Byrne(Neds trusted lieutenant)and Joes best friend,Aaron Sherritt.Their surrounding environment of the town of Beechworth and the Woolshed valley is brought alive by Jones and despite the fact that Ned himself remains a somewhat shadowy figure,the book is fascinating reading.Both Byrne and Sherritt seem @ times to be teetering on the edge of sanity within the framework they built for themselves.This is perhaps not a book for someone new to the story but it is certainly well worth owning.It makes you want to visit the areas covered in the book and walk in the footsteps of Ned,Joe and Aaron themselves!Highly recommended.

MARK PERRY-ADELAIDE SA.

Frommer's has lots of great information, from where to stay, where to eat, best sites to see and very interesting tips and tricks. It's unfortunate that there isn't a later edition--the Frommer's for $50 a day or less has some more recent information that I found very useful as well.

When I shop for a travel guide I look for something objective-- it must give general interpretations before the author's opinion! frommer's australia 2000 is the perfect combination of the two. it starts off with a "best of" section which details both the major highlights of the continent as well as off the beaten track suggestions for the anti-tourism tourist. it also gives suggested itineraries in case you have a limited time in a particular spot. it also has the best hotel descriptions I've ever read in a travel guide, for all price ranges! I've traveled with many guides, and frommer's has been the most accurate. This is the best out there.

I have always felt that the official history of Australia was very strange and very boring. It contained scarce mention of large scale conflicts and almost no mention of the people who had been occupying our land for the 30,000 years prior to european colonisation. Many people who have learned about the history of white Australia have felt the same but Henry Reynolds was one of the few people to become active in the field and say definitively that black history deserves a voice and that black history is so very different to the stereotypes and urban mythologies that have come to characterise it for many Australians. This book and others that have been influenced by Reynolds' stance have thoroughly changed the way many people see Australian history and I predict it will influence many people to take a more compassionate and integrated view of other races.

Need to understand an Aussie? This is your book! Natively I don't speak english; I can understand american speakers but when my daughter married an Australian it was like listening a completely different language. A friend handed me this book to help me communicate with my son in law and "G'Day Mate" did the miracle! It was very helpful for understanding certain qualities in the language used in Australia. I highly recommnd this book to anyone, english speaker or not, who wants to speak "aussie" or at least understand it.

P.C. Mowle's, Pioneer Families of Australia, was printed in five editions between 1939 and 1974. It is a genealogical history of Australia's pioneers, focussing on families who arrived between 1788 and 1838, and who played a leadership role in opening up the continent. Consistent with this approach, and given the nature of Australian development, families listed tended to have agricultural, business, and professional backgrounds. Short biographies are included for many of the first two generations, but thereafter comment tends to be limited to a statement of occupation. Subject to family interest, the descendents are included up to late 1974. Details of marriages are also included, but tend to lapse after about 1955. The 5th edition, updated by L.M. Mowle, was limited to 1001 copies, and I am not aware of plans for an update. As a genealogical record of the first two centuries of European settlement in Australia this book is unsurpassed.

This is a great collection of stories of the Polish refugees, first deported from their homeland into the depths of the Soviet Union in 1940-1941 to forced labor in the harshest conditions, then their odyssey out of soviet Russia into wartime refuge camps and ultimately to their new Australian homes.

Though now out of print, the book has been posted electronically on the internet at [website]

Here is an excerpt from the Foreword:

"Australia's history has always been an interesting one. But the arrival of over 5.5 million people from so many different lands in the years since 1945 has added immeasurably to its fascination. The fascination derives in part from the past experiences of settlers, which flow on by oral and other tradition to current and succeeding generations. These earlier experiences become part of individual and collective group consciousness in a diverse and varied society.

The General Langfitt Story combines excellently the extraordinary background account of a group of displaced persons, mainly women and children, from Poland who arrived in Australia in 1950, and their subsequent experience in Australia.

The harshness of the life of some immigrants, such as the General Langfitt Group, before arriving in Australia, is not fully realised or adequately documented. The stories of survival of those in the group who were deported from Poland to work in remote labour camps in the Soviet Union, are nothing short of remarkable. And it is important for Australian history, and the broader record of human endeavour and endurance, that these stories be told.

Maryon Allbrook and Helen Cattalini have very sensitively collected the stories of some of those who were part of what they call the 'terrible history' of the General Langfitt Group. Their account makes riveting reading, and serves as a lasting testimony to the bravery of those who underwent these cataclysmic events."

I remember reading this book as a teenager, and thinking, "Yes, I understand!" every time the heroine, Laura, found herself at odds with the relentless conformity of school society. Set at a turn-of-the-century boarding school in Melbourne, Australia, "the Getting of Wisdom" is a classic tale of a girl who thinks for herself and, thus, is forever out of step with both her society and her classmates. Laura tries desperately to fit in, but never quite does. Still, in the end, the reader is sure that Laura will be the one to soar high in life -- not her more conventional peers. As Richardson says, "She could not know then, even for the squarest peg, the right hole may ultimately be found; seeming unfitness prove to be only another aspect of a peculiar and special fitness." Almost 100 years old, the book's message is still fresh today, which is why Richardson is considered one of Australia's greatest novelists.

I confess to being a bit ignorant when it comes to birds. It's not that I don't like them, you understand. It's just that I have never felt compelled to follow them into marshes, rainfrests or tidal plains, record their songs, carry bincoulars, notebooks and field guides to identify them or attend the meetings of our local birdwatchers' club. On the other hand, I am great friends with the cardinal couple that visits the tree outside my window each morning and the java sparrows that nest in the eaves of the house next door. I have also made the acquaintance of several parrots in the neighborhood, and we get along just fine. So when I was given this collection of true stories to read, I thought, what the heck. Why not?

Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the depth and range of the writing contained in this book, but I was touched by the effect birds have had on people's lives. The book is divided into 5 sections, each with its own unique set of stories. Some of my favorites include the following:

In Part I - Vivid Encounters, Diane Ackerman tells of how she broke her ribs climbing down vertical volcanic cliffs on a Japanese island to see the last of the short-tailed Albatrosses.

In Part II - Kindred Spirits, David Duncan confesses to having robbed a great horned owl's nest as a child.

In Part III - Odd Ducks, Marie Winn tells of a magical day spent gettting lost and discovering birds in Central Park.

In Part IV - Brushes with Divinity can be found the offerings of authors such as Peter Matthiessen's compelling description of his visit to the breeding grounds of the great cranes in Siberia.

Part V - Ascending Song consists of a single offering by Kenn Kauffman (author of Kingbird Highway) who tells of finding and listening to the song of a skylark out in the San Juan Islands.

There are many more of course, from writers as diverse as Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich and Bernd Heinrich. All in all this is a wonderful read that shouldn't be missed.