Kelly has produced a most comprehensive account of 1980s Australia, but more than that, he has also dealt with the vital question of leadership in an accurate manner. His analysis of the Hawke-Keating and Howard-Peacock rivalries is the strength of this very worthwhile publication. Anyone who wants to understand the politics, parties and personalities of the '80s should read this book.

In the late 1940's and 1950's both sides of Australian politics had agreed over the fundamentals of economic policy. That is that both were committed to Keynseian economic theories combined with a high level of taffifs to maintain a manufacturing sector.

During the post war period the most succesful force had been the conservatives known in Australia as the liberals.

In 1982 the Australian left wing party the Labour Party won office. To everyone's surprise it rejected the conventional economic wisdom and started to dismantle protectoin, it allowed a floating exchange rate and indirectly started to kill the trade union movement by providing a series of non income benifiets to union members instead of wage rises. Thus the books title, these types of reforms would normally have been carried out by the conservative side of politics rather than by the left.

During the 80's a large amount of Australia's secondary industry collapsed but it was replaced by a growth in the servic sector especially tourism. As the decade ground on the country had high levels of economic growth and inflation fell to low levels.

The ruling Labour party was able to stay in power until 1993. The book provides a history of the time with more of a focus on the political ins and outs of the time. The writer is a prominent political journalist and lots of the book is actually quite funny.

It is currently the best history of that period of Australia. Worth a read if you are keen on Australia or the period in question.

A serious story with a lot of laughs along the way. Elizabeth is a pro writer for younger kids.

This book is a lot of fun to read, and I would recommend it to any kid who wants something that is exciting and mysterious. It brought back some memories of the time that I went camping, and it was really great to remember it. The story has a lot of twists and turns, and it keeps you on edge throughout the whole book while still having a really great and even cute storyline. If you are thinking about buying this book, you have made a good choice to do so, and hopefully you will decide to buy it! :) Hope this helps!

This in-depth field guide is useful for both beginners and experienced bird-watchers. Wonderfully illustrated. Illustrations make for easy identification, and maps show distributions well. Divided into groups of related birds. Some photographs may have been a good idea, however.

This is Pizzey's second field guide to Australian birds, and it is quite unlike the first. Pizzey I was an excellent reference, but the plates (by Doyle) were mediocre and of limited value for field identification. Pizzey II features superb color plates by Frank Knight, with a reduced facing-plate text by Pizzey that surpasses other current field guides in the amount of distributional information furnished. Unfortunately, the ungraduated distributional maps are clearly inferior to the maps in Michael Morcombe's Field Guide to Australian Birds (Steve Parish Publishing 2000) and the Simpson & Day Field Guide to the Birds of Australia.

Though slightly smaller than Morcombe (6.5" x 9.5"), Pizzey II is a large format book (6" x 9") that is easy to read, but a bit heavy for packing in the field. Nevertheless, foreign birders visiting Australia would be well advised to take both Pizzey II -- for the illustrations -- and Morcombe -- for the huge quantity of useful information and detailed field notes on the (amateurish) plates. For routine use in the field, the guide of choice remains the light and compact (4.5" x 8") Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds (Weldon 1989). The other Australian field guide, Simpson & Day, is a worthy competitor with color plates of comparable quality to those in Pizzey II, though perhaps not as conveniently arranged.

In conclusion, all four current Australian bird guides are five-star books, though each has its strengths and weaknesses. Pizzey II is artistically the most pleasing and would be the guide of greatest interest to book collectors interested in fine bird art.

Peter Menkhorst's book is widely regarded as THE field guide to the mammals of Australia. Compact and easy to use, with fantastic illustrations by Frank Knight, its a must for anyone interested in identifying Australia's diverse mammalian fauna.

I've been doing alot of research on illustrating various Australian Mammals and found that this book is the most compacted of all reference materials. You get the whole animal to view. So many times when cross researching you find yourself struggling to figure out what the animals feet really looks like, this book I find is really helpful.

One of those books you can't put down, and thus read from early afternoon 'till 3 the next morning. A highly controversial Australian best seller, this is a personal account of the Author's attempt to discover the truth behind a claim of sexual harrassment. Two young, astute and attractive young women are the complainants, a quiet, genial (clumsy or innocent?) college warden approaching retirement the "victim". Helen Garner, a feminist of the old school, questions the destructive bitterness the direction modern feminism has taken on this case, and further questions the portrayal of the young women in the case as "powerless" - the very opposite thing feminism should be doing, in her view. What I can't put in words is the beautiful writing; the sympathetic, transcendent portrayal of the human condition with all its foibles. You must read this book!

This book brilliantly reveals the perversion of feminist ideals and the highly destructive nature of gender-ideological warfare on campuses in Australia in the 1990s. It is a lucid piece of investigative writing that explores the highly complex world of gender politics and its miserable downfall in a country where public opinion has been motivated by default to sympathise with the woman in cases of sexual harassment as a result of stereotypical imagery of male aggression and dominance in the sexual environment. Most importantly, the book describes how incorrect and false these stereotypes can be.

The First Stone illustrates the destruction of one man's life; his profession, his family, his reputation as a respected member of the academic community, all this despite his acquittal, due to the relentless attacks on his person for being identified as a cultural outsider (in the College he ran with great success and enthusiasm) by feminist interest groups hell bent at 'getting back' at the class he is meant to represent. This is a highly recommended book by those who wish to understand the other side of the story.

Frank Morehouse hides this gem of a book behind a difficult first chapter. Morehouse's uses what he calls discontinuous narrative style, where he presents the novel as a series of inter-related short stories, to great effect. Like The American's Baby, we get to know (and like) the characters we see from one perspective, only to have those images torn to shreds by stories from different times, different people's view etc. Forty-seventeen is the story of a middle-aged man and his affair with a seventeen-year-old girl. As the lives of the couple are built up by strangely juxtaposed stories, Morehouse exposes the charades we play when we present different views of ourselves to other people. Morehouse is skilled in writing sexy prose that, once you get through the first chapter, you'll find hard to stop reading. A thoroughly enjoyable book.

The story of a forty year old man who has an affair with a seventeen year old girl (and all sorts of other, odd, adventures) is classic Moorhouse: hilariously funny, carefully observed, very smart about politics (human and international), and a little off-kilter in terms of narrative. It also contains one of Moorhouse's great "lists": in this case, a list of things every man should know by age forty.

I am planning to be an exchange student at the University of Canberra and of all the travel books I read, this met my needs the best. The book was honest about student discounts and the quality of youth hostels. The features I liked best were the planned walking tours of cities and the special attention to "Fun and Free" attractions. The author writes in a clear, friendly, engaging manner, I feel I know what to expect from Australia after reading this book.

I just got back from a 3-week trip to Australia during which I used this book constantly, though my version is from 1999 and I don't know what version amazon.com is selling right now. I visited many of the places Frommer's recommended and stayed at a few of the lodgings listed as well (specifically, the Sydney Central Youth Hostel and Springfield Lodge, both good choices if you are on a budget and want a place that's clean and comfortable). Some people I travelled with part of the time preferred my guide over theirs (a Fodor, I think) so much that I let them borrow it after I flew home and they stayed behind. If I could change one thing, I would color-code the seperate chapters- it was difficult to locate things in my edition since everything was printed in black or red. Still, this book was extremely handy for me and I'm glad it was the one I chose to buy.

When we were considering what to do during our month in New Zealand, travel agents were pleading with us to have everything lined up before "the Y2k rush." So, being the literal engineering types, we bought a couple of books -- the Lonely Planet NZ and the Frommers for Under $50/day -- and started poring through them.

Our initial impression of the Lonely Planet book was too dense to be useful to us. The Frommer's guide, however, had suggested itineraries based on the time one could spend in New Zealand. Even better, the author, Elizabeth Hansen, was available to "consult" on the trip on an hourly basis. Because we'd be toting our 18-month old, we used her services and pre-booked the entire trip.

Once there, we found the Lonely Planet book much more useful. The Lonely Planet guide excels at providing abundant information about towns, including attractions, restaurants and maps giving a rough layout.

For example, one of the folks at a Visitor center clued us into Farewell Spit, an area we were going to forego because it was well off our chosen route. As it turned out, Tahuna Park, our campground in Nelson was pretty bad (right under an airport takeoff path; lots of people permanently living there; undermaintained kitchens), and we didn't relish the idea of spending three days there as originally planned.

The side trip to Farewell Spit was long and we'd have to find some place relatively nearby to the Spit to make it a reasonable trip. Unfortunately, this is where the Frommer's guide was very weak. It caters more to the B&B crowd, and there isn't that much north (or west) of Nelson. The Lonely Planet book, however, paid for itself by suggesting a lot of options, providing maps of the little towns, and listing restaurants where we might stop at for "snack time."

In summary: The Frommer's book is helpful for initially planning your trip.

The Frommer's book has more of a focus on higher-end accomodations, e.g., motels or beds and breakfasts, and covers a smaller area. This is not such a big deal unless you want to venture too far off the beaten path.

We felt the author's services were worthwhile.

Don't underestimate the value of the Visitor Centers scattered throughout New Zealand. They were generally very good at providing local information. Most will also book special activities for you.

I recently spent two weeks in New Zealand. This was the only book I took with me and it was the best choice. I had looked through others but, I would recommend this book to anyone who is planning a holiday there. The pricing was a bit outdated due to the exchange rate, but all the other information was dead on! I did the things recommended in Rotorua, Taupo and Napier and I was well prepared! The for free or nearly free things to do and see were the best. I cant wait to go back!

I thought this was a good read. The main character is forced to think about her first lesbian love experience. She returns to her hometown and inevitably runs in to her first. Good job describing the emotional realm. Not really a 'steamy' novel.

If you like romance and sexual tension, then this is the book for you. I read this book right through. I thought it was wonderfully steamy. Full of loss and heartache, lost opportunities and misunderstandings but oh, so worth it all in the end. When they finally do succumb to their feelings, you'll find yourself breathless as well. I enjoyed it immensely and plan on scarfing up more books by this author.

Not only does my niece love this book, I'm quite fond of the series, too! The illustrations are detailed and painstakingly accurate, but the real treasure is Dunphy's language. The motif may seem simple, but it actively tunes in a child's curiosity, making her or him eager to turn the page and see what's next.

I really enjoy Madeleine Dunphy's "Here is the Coral Reef," as I do all of her other "Here is..." books (rainforest, arctic winter, southwestern desert, and wetlands). "Here is the Coral Reef" provides parents a fun, colorful medium for teaching children about the coral reef ecosystem. The cumulative verse format is an elegant way to teach about the interconnections between all life. The illustrations are gloriously bright, with just enough action to keep the kids going, but nothing gory. The story grows incrementally with each page, tracing the unseen threads of biological systems, and culminating in a montage of its reef-dwelling characters. Kids seem to like the repetition...but any parent knows how much children enjoy repeating their favorite stories, songs or videos over and over and over! I would highly recommend this subtle yet effective book for parents and educators (*****).