Cirrus@Austlit

'This entertaining account of a childhood in the Australian bush provides two stories in one. First, the book gives a fascinating description of the life of a young boy in remote and isolated parts of the alpine region of north-east Victoria eighty years ago. Second, it provides a record of how school teachers then were trained and of the challenges faced by primary school-teachers sent to serve in Australian bush schools in that distant era. Life was not easy. Teachers were responsible for every aspect of the running of their school including dealing with the school’s toilets. Their families had to cope with privations unknown to modern Australian society; dependence on rain water collected in a tank, no electricity for lighting or heating, reading by candlelight, the use of a wood stove, no refrigeration, limited access to shopping and transportation, and no telephone.' (Publication summary)

'Dr John Clarebrough was destined to have an impact on Australian medicine from the day in 1947 when his outstanding examination results in the final year of the medical course at the University of Melbourne were announced. He set his sights at first on becoming a physician. However, late in his second year as a resident medical officer, he was prevailed upon to change course by a surgeon he greatly admired. As a young man, he survived a life-threatening bout of poliomyelitis. Based at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, he became one of Australia’s foremost cardio-thoracic surgeons, and served as President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and President of the Cardiac Society of Australia. In addition, he was an outstanding teacher, mentor, administrator and humble servant of the community and the medical profession.' (Publication summary)

'In 1940, soon after graduating, Dr Stanley Goulston joined the Australian Army. As the sole doctor to 1500 soldiers, he was sent to the Middle East where the Allied forces were fighting the Germans and Italians. His battalion was part of the iconic Rats of Tobruk during the famous siege. At Tobruk he was awarded a Military Cross.

'In 1947 he was appointed honorary physician to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. He became one of Australia’s first gastroenterologists and advanced this speciality at his hospital and beyond. In senior roles with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians he headed a long-lasting redesign of physician training.

'Stanley Goulston was universally admired for his humility, empathy and commitment to teaching and research. For most of his life, he wrote poetry. At 79 he completed a Master of Philosophy degree at Sydney University and then taught narrative and poetry to doctors and medical students with the aim of fostering a more humane and compassionate version of modern scientific medicine.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Vernon D Plueckhahn was for many years Australia's most prominent forensic pathologist. His expertise was central in correcting some of Australia's worst miscarriages of justice, most notably the wrongful 1982 conviction of Lindy Chamberlain for murder. This book traces his life, of first serving on a hospital ship for four years in World War II, then becoming a doctor, and then from a small base as the first pathologist at Geelong Hospital becoming known nationally and internationally. He led the way in forensic pathology - in research, for example, to validate autopsy measurement of blood alcohol and then linking alcohol misuse and drowning. He was instrumental in transforming the small regional hospital of Geelong into a leading academic centre. He steered the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia through turbulent times in the 1970s. His achievements were quite remarkable, with the greatest being the formation of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, which is now a world leading institution.' (Publication summary)