Cirrus@Austlit

'Preface 
'My father's name is so well known in Queensland that no explanation of the title of this book is necessary. Its contents are simply what they profess to be-" Tom Petrie's Reminiscences ; " no history of Queensland being attempted, though a sketch of life in the early convict days is included in its pages. My father's association with the Queensland aborigines from early boyhood, was so intimate, and extended over so many years, that his experience of their manners, their habits, their customs, their traditions, myths, and folklore, have an undoubted ethnological value. Realising this, I determined as far as lay in my power to save from oblivion by presenting in book form, the vast body of information garnered in the perishable storehouse of one man's - my father's - memory.
'To my friend, Dr. Roth, Chief Protector of Aboriginals, Queensland, I am indebted for the proper spelling of aboriginal words, and I wish to thank him for all his kindly interest and help. The spelling thus referred to is that adopted by the Royal Geographical Society of London, and followed in other continental countries. In this connection I may mention that the Brisbane or Turrbal tribe is identical with the Turrubul tribe of Rev. W. Ridley. It was my father who gave this gentleman the original information concerning these particular blacks.
Scientific names of trees and plants have been obtained through the courtesy of Mr. F. M. Bailey, F.L.S., Government
Botanist, Brisbane.
CONSTANCE CAMPBELLPETRIE.
" Murrumba ," North Pine,
October, 1904.'

(Source: University of Queensland espace)

'Their officers called them a stinking, lazy, drunken rabble and their friends said they took the colonel prisoner, burnt down their officers' mess and drove off the military police with heavy rifle-fire. This is the unforgettable story of the gallant men of the A.I.F.: the fearless and fatalistic Diggers of the Western Desert.

'Twenty thousand men were on their way to the deserts of Egypt and Libya: some had joined up for adventure, some were on the run from the police, for others, the army meant three meals a day and a bed to sleep in. From an induction camp in Australia to the siege of Tobruk, the savage intensity of Second X Battalion's experiences is not for the faint hearted. How soon will death silence so many of these brave voices and how many will ring out beyond the brutality of the battlefield?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Head of Zeus ed.)

'Alien Son, in simple yet rich language, is the story of a Russian family settling in Australia in the years before the first World War.  Waten tells of life in his home, among the family's Jewish friends, among his new Australian playmates, on his father's bottle-o rounds - of their hopes, despairs, the comedies and tragedies - all told with the warmth, understanding, and sometimes lack of understanding, that is felt by a child finding himself between the two worlds.  His attempts to reconcile the demands of these two worlds rarely meet with success; often they end in situations that are at once poignantly sad and humorous.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Australian Classics ed.).

I Can Jump Puddles is Alan Marshall's story of his childhood, a happy world in which, despite his crippling poliomyelitis, he plays, climbs, fights, swims, rides and laughs. His world was the Australian countryside early last century: rough-riders, bushmen, farmers and tellers of tall stories, a world held precious by the young Alan Marshall. (Source: Trove)

'This is a tale of corruption stretching from street corner SP bookmaking to the most influential men in the land - and the terrible personal cost of the power such corruption brings. John West rose from a Melbourne slum to dominate Australian politics with bribery, brutality and fear. His attractive wife and their children turned away from him in horror. Friends dropped away. At the peak of his power, surrounded by bootlickers, West faced a hate-filled nation - and the terrible loneliness of his life. Was John West a real figure? For months during the post-war years, an Australian court heard evidence in a sensational libel action brought by businessman John Wren's wife. After a national uproar which rocked the very foundations of the Commonwealth, Frank Hardy was acquitted. This is the novel which provoked such intense uproar and debate across the nation. The questions it poses remain unanswered…' (Publication summary)