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When Anna Mary Robertson Moses, a farmer's widow, was seventy eight, she found that her hands were too stiff to sew fine embroidery. Her sister Celestia suggested that she might try painting instead. The rest really is history. This book was written when she was 92 and still going strong. Her ability to portray simple farm life and rural countryside won her a wide following: the excitement of winter's first snow, Thanksgiving preparations and the new, young green of oncoming spring. In person, Grandma Moses charmed wherever she went. A tiny, lively woman with mischievous gray eyes and a quick wit, she could be sharp-tongued with a sycophant and stern with an errant grandchild. And apart from her artistic talent, we can learn of her life: starting with her employment as a live-in housekeeper at the age of 12, her marriage and children. A fascinating look at a truly one-of and great lady. Contains 16 full colour reproductions of her paintings. -
Jean Devanny (1894 - 1962) - author, political activist, and women's liberationist - was a leading figure in Australia's political and literary life. In the turbulent political climate of the 1930s, Devanny joined the Communist Party and rapidly became a redoubtable public speaker. A fiery figure, she clashed with the party line on events in Europe during World War II and under Stalin and had bitter disputes with party leaders over her “open” marriage and rumored love affairs. Obliged to write novels to support her family, she developed friendships with notable writers Katharine Susannah Prichard, Miles Franklin, and Frank Hardy. Her interest in issues of race, gender and sexuality makes her a writer of great contemporary interest. In this volume she writes of the men and women who live and work on the Queensland coast, in the steaming rain forests, in the cane fields and in the mines. They are people who never dreamed they would be an author's hero or heroine, yet they are; Devanny understood the significance of the many humble lives and the part they played in the overall scheme of our national existence and has here drawn wonderful character studies and 'yarns'. -
The story of the Australian theatre began inn 1789 when a group of First Fleet convicts mounted a production of George Farquhar military comedy, The Recruiting Officer. Starting from this bizarre performance, this volume chronicles the history of the Australian stage to the 1980s (some of it hardly less bizarre) told in the vivid language of the performers' contemporaries and supported by ten essays by leading theatre historians. From Shakespeare to vaudeville, from establishment to alternative and from the art of the gold-boom tragedians to the problems of mounting plays in converted warehouses in the 1960s, the book draws on an an exhaustive search through old reviews and memoirs, much of which represents important discoveries about the performers and performances of our past. Illustrated with black and white photographs. -
"Learn all you can about the German Army and one day you will be a valuable man to your country." These words were spoken to young Alexander Scotalnd by Major Wade, a British liaison officer in German West Africa in 1904. He never forgot those words. This book covers how much he learnt and how valuable were his services to his country. This young man served in the German Army - at the suggestion of the Germans - for the duration of the Hottentot Rebellion, thereby gaining an intimate knowledge of the organisation and strengths of the German military machine. He grew to know, by close contact, the habits, language and mental outlook of the German soldier. This knowledge was the basis of his achievements in espionage, interrogation and undercover work in two world wars. His reputation led to a strange meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1937, at the home of a mutual friend. His career reached its zenith in 1947 when - as Chief Officer of the War Crimes Investigation Unit, he played a decisive role in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. Illustrated with black and white photographs. -
This collection of essays from the second Whitlam Conference of Labor Historians marks a further important stage in documenting the history of the Australian Labor Party. More than just a record for future generations, it is a handbook for the late 1980s and a guide for those charged with implementing Labor policies for the Australian Government. Topics covered: Aboriginal Land Rights; Education; Health; Reform of the Public Sector and Urban Policy. Contributors: Gough Whitlam; Bob Carr; Sol Encel; Graham Freudenberg; Marc Gumbert; Race Mathews; Tom Uren; Peter Wilenski and Deane Wells. -
Bingham was a lecturer and a professor, not an archeologist. Yest he rediscovered then then-largely forgotten city of Machu Picchu, which he believed to be an important religious centre of the Incas. Thrilled at the possibility of more unexplored Inca cities, in 1911 he formed the Yale Peruvian Expedition, rediscovering and correctly identifying the cities of Vitcos and Vilcabamba. He later was elected Lt. Governor of Connecticut. Illustrated with black and white photographs. -
In 1858, as a result of the mutiny, the sovereignty of India passed from the East India Trading Company to the British Crown; and the then Governor-General, Lord Canning, was given the more romantic title of Viceroy. This book covers the Viceroys from 'Clemency' Canning to Mountbatten and is concerned with the men who held an office, which, in its combination of responsibility and splendor, is without parallel in modern history. There are figures as diverse as the craggy John Lawrence and the charming, urbane Dufferin; the dynamic Mayo and the wayward Lytton; the humble, high-minded Ripon and the brilliant, overbearing Curzon; the patrician Lansdowne and the self-made lawyer Reading. They are portrayed against the background of their times in India; much use being made of contemporary letters, many of them unpublished. There are also their wives, ranging from the beautiful and tragic Lady Canning to the redoubtable Lady Willingdon. It is by no means confined to matters of state, giving a lively and nostalgic picture of the ceremonial and social side of Viceregal life over a century, and the delights and discomforts of reigning in the Government Houses of Simla, Calcutta and Delhi, surrounded by a retinue of secretaries, body guards, ADCs and an army of servants; progresses by elephant, sedan-chair, houseboat, bullock cart and train and in general, an overall picture of a series of rulers who were, on the whole, suited to their office in which some achieved greatness and most were successful. Illustrated with black and white photographs. -
Less a biography, more a critical appreciation, it tells the story of the trio through 11 classic rock songs and reveals some of the personal and creative secrets that went into their making. Important figures from AC/DC's long way to the top open up for the very first time, while unsung heroes behind the band's success are given the credit they are due. Accepted accounts of events are challenged while sensational new details emerge to cast a whole new light on the band's history--especially their early years with Atlantic Records in the United States. Former AC/DC members and musicians from bands such as Guns N' Roses, Dropkick Murphys, Airbourne and Rose Tattoo also give their take on the Youngs' brand of magic. Their music has never pulled its punches. Neither does this critically acclaimed biography. With fabulous colour and black and white photographs. -
The Australian wool industry has, in large measure, shaped Australian society, the economy and politics. But how important will wool be in coming decades? This is a collection of appraisal, forecast and discussion from experts in the wool industry; from botanists to economists and ecologists to historians. Illustrated.
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