Hesperian Press

PLEASE NOTE: Any book title starting with "The" - the second word of the title is used to list by.

All prices quoted are in Australian currency and include GST. * Short trade discount.

If you are unsure of a title use the search facility on the left hand side of this page.

Gift of $10,000 worth of Hesperian titles to the WA prison system.

We have given some 15 copies each of 24 titles that are still current books but of which we are overstocked. We need the space. Hopefully some of the prisoners will appreciate good books as a relief from the mind rotting TV. We even gave an extra set for the staff so they do not have to pinch the prisoner’s copies.

FREE BOOKS

When you visit the shop you can choose from the 'free book shelf'. Mail order - we will try to add in a free book if it does not increase the postage.

The perfect gift.

Eric Linklater wrote, in A Year of Space (1953):- Of all the minor gifts, books are the most agreeable, and in the fashion and restriction of our times only minor gifts can be made. There is no one left who will present a parting guest with a cheque for £1000, an elephant, an ocean-going yacht, or a pair of dancing girls; and in the habit and narrower circumstance of this age, such gifts (or most of them) would be embarrassing. But how welcome is a book, for given books read doubly well.
 

It is important that we get support for our books from our readers. Hesperian does not get taxpayer funding.

Many millions of dollars have been mis-spent on unreadable novels and plainly irrelevant and obnoxious propaganda.

There is no other publisher like us in Australia concentrating on REAL Australian history and people.

Hesperian books will stand the test of time.

But if we do not get buyer support we may not be around too long after our forthcoming 50 years anniversary.  

Obituary 

Judith Drake Brockman

Judith was one of our favourite authors, her book being Wongi Wongi which we published in 2001. This is an important personal memoir that used her own life and background as well as access to then ‘secret’ files to counteract insidious and poisonous anti-white-Australian propaganda that was highly promoted and inflicted upon a generation or so of schoolchildren, through the efforts of communists in a State and Federal government funded publisher and by ‘profits are everything’ corporations.

While her book was vilified by the usual suspects it was reviewed in several sensible journals and used by critical thinkers to awaken the public as to their deception.

Unfortunately codswallop and just plain lies have become the standard of much of the captive media and maggot ridden organisations of all stripes.

Born in 1920, Judith was a record breaking swimmer competing nationally and internationally. But her life story is well told in Wongi Wongi.

For some years Judith had been living in Paddington, Sydney and with her daughter Ashley. She died in late August 2019, so at the age of 99.

Obituary 

Hal Colebatch

Hal was an old friend. We first met in the mid-1950s at the Saturday meetings of the WA Naturalists Club held in the basement of the old Perth Museum. We were both ‘loners’ and the calls we followed were not those that most others heard.

In the early 1960s he came caving with WASG at Augusta and never lost his fascination with the exploration of those unknown underground places.

He asked me to be his scrutineer when he stood for Parliament. A hard night’s work.

In 1996 we published his biography of Claude De Bernales, The Magnificent Miner. It is still in print.

A slightly ‘amusing’ story attached to this was the result of arranging by telephone with the personnel of the eponymously named Hannan Street bar for a book launch. Well, we arrived per the Prospector, took a room at a local motel and fronted up to the bar. No one knew anything. It was a disaster. I think we got an interview with a local radio station and maybe with the Kalgoorlie Miner. I never did find out who had set us up, or why. But Hal got a good look around the dilapidated focus of old De Bernales’ fortunes.

I think Hal got badly burnt in a publishing venture set up by a local thieving bullsh artist, who also stripped me, and many others, of hard won funds. In fighting the oleaginous left sometimes it is those in your own ranks who are most likely to do a Brutus. Whether the blow is from left or right the result is the same.

I think this is where our different views were based. Hal appeared to be thinking above the strife of the mundus muckus whereas I had to fight in that dirt. Consequently my views are rather more non-PC.

In later years we lost contact but I did get a call from him only a month ago.

I hope that a complete bibliography of his large and varied literary output will be compiled and published.

Obituary 

Norm Manners

1932-2019. The author of Bullwinkel, one of our most popular books.

As is not unusual with many good books, the major publishers based in the multicult hellholes of Melbourne and Sydney, knocked it back. We were happy to publish, both for a hardworking author and an illustrious Australian.

Norm and his good mate, detective Max Baker, had many meetings with us going through the text. The book was launched by the Governor to some acclamation which was only marred by the publication in the local rag of a vicious review organised by their embedded trotskyite termite.

Unfortunately for us Westralians, we have to put up with many of that ilk in our mess media. But what goes round…

We will miss the cheery Norm at our soon forthcoming 50^th anniversary.

A History of Dressage in Western Australia

by Marion Hercock with Zoe Harrison.

ISBN 978-0-85905-750-9, (New, 2019), 160x240mm, French flap soft cover, 398 pages, well illustrated, indexed, 940 grams, $55.00* + POST Country and Interstate $14.55 Perth metro $10.90 or free pickup at office.

The progress of horse and rider training underlies the story of the development of the specialist sport of dressage in Western Australia. This history covers the years from 1829 to 2000. It includes the mounted police and the first riding schools; the hunt club, the pony clubs and the original Dressage Club of Western Australia. It looks at the horses and the riders, from the hackies and eventers to the FEI masters of dressage. Historical detail is blended with personal memories to create an informative and lively ride into the past; and for some readers, a trip down memory lane.

A Short Walk in Paradise

by Peter W. Board

ISBN 978-0-85905-748-6, (R, 2019), A5, 165 pages, illustrated, soft cover, 225 grams, $30.00* + POST

Peter Board was a British sailor, born in Devonshire, who joined the Royal Navy at 16 and served on HMS Newcastle and HMS Consort. With his mate Ron Palmer they jumped ship after the Montebello nuclear tests. Peter headed for country WA and after some adventures ended up at Dwellingup. He describes bush town life and its people and working on the bush railways of the forest area. Eventually the RN found the pair and it was back to swabbing decks. He returned to Australia in 1972 and worked in the Pilbara. Here he took up diving, metal detecting, boating, and expeditions with the WA Museum archaeologists around the islands. Retiring from Hamersley Iron in 1987 he married again and retired to the hills, surrounded by his collections and library.

Around the Goldfields

A study of possibilities and dreams. An overview of the goldfields during the great depression.

Anon.

ISBN 978-0-85905-450-8, (2019, new), A4, indexed, 48 pages, 150 grams, $22.00* + POST

Ben O'Dowd - Hero of Kapyong 

by Rory Steele

ISBN 978-0-85905-752-3, [New, 2019], 160 x 240, French flaps, section sewn, illustrated, 197 pages, 500 grams, $50.00*

In their most important engagement in the Korean War, Australian troops were cut off from other battalions and surrounded by units of China's People's Liberation Army. Earlier, as members of a United Nations force responding to the invasion of South Korea by the North, they had fought their way up the peninsula. China then intervened and turned the tide with a series of massive offensives; in late April its forces were poised to break through the UN line and descend on the South Korean capital. Defending a hillside above the Kapyong Valley four hundred men of the Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, confronted a determined enemy ten times their number who came at them in wave after wave. Fighting went on for a night and the following day until the order came to the senior officer on the ground to withdraw. Major Ben O'Dowd led the four rifle companies under fire to safety without suffering a single loss. His heroism was never properly recognised. The Chinese onslaught was checked at Kapyong and the war went into stalemate.

O'Dowd, taken into state care at the age of four, left school at fourteen and fended for himself during the Depression. A miner at Kalgoorlie, he enlisted as a private in 1939 and was sent to the Middle East where he was wounded. Later in New Guinea he was decorated for bravery and commissioned in the field as an officer. From 1945 to 1950 he was stationed with occupation forces in Japan. After Korea he served with the British in the Malayan Emergency and became deputy commander at Australia's jungle training centre in Queensland. For ten years after retiring from the Army Ben O'Dowd played a major role in building up the nascent Victorian State Emergency Services into a major institution.

BMC Leyland in Western Australia 

The People, the Cars, the Dealerships

by Gary Mentiplay

ISBN 978-0-85905-751-6, (2018, New), A4, French flaps, heavily illustrated, 346pages, 1.4kg, $70.00*

Covers the story of the various motor vehicle makes Austin, Morris, Wolseley, MG and Leyland that eventually made up the BMC (British Motor Corporation) and Leyland Australia during the years 1908 to 1978.

The main focus is on the post World War Two years, with an emphasis on the cars and the people in Western Australia who sold and serviced them. The inter-war years, 1919 to 1938 are also covered. The book contains a large amount of information, and is well illustrated with photos and period advertisements.

A4 size with 338 pages, 19 Chapters, six Appendices and Index. Appendix A is an extensive listing of over 640 Austin, Morris, Nuffield, BMC and Leyland dealers and agents in Western Australia.

Australia wide post is $14.55. Overseas post details and orders to

Author: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: 0420 448 036

Camels, Exploration and Development in the North

by Herbert M. Barker

ISBN 978-0-85905-739-4, (New, 2019), A4, soft cover, illustrated, indexed, 24pp, 75g, $16.50* + POST

A collection of reports, letters, etc. by Barker on the NW. Details of his exploration to the east of the Oakover River and proposals for development.

Chasing the Dragon's Tale - The Vergulde Draeck Story

by Bob Sheppard

ISBN 978-0-85905-723-3, (New, 2019), 160 x 240, heavily illustrated, indexed, 730 grams, $50.00*

The most comprehensive book ever written on the heritage, history and archaeology of the Vergulde Draeck (1656). Illustrated (with some never seen before photos) and containing around 700 references. The book is in two parts. Part One, The Vergulde Draeck Story, is a formal history of the wreck and its discovery. Part Two, Chasing The Dragon's Tale, covers the author's experiences in his 10 year search to unravel one of Australia's greatest maritime mysteries.

Cobbers of Mine and the Mining Magnate

by The Axeman, Alfred E. Wallace

ISBN 978-0-85905-735-6, (New, 2019), A4, 47 pages, 140 grams, $22.00* + POST

Alfred Wallace died of silicosis in 1924. He was an axeman in the forests and an underground miner on the Murchison. His verse was in demand for local celebrations and the regional newspapers. Few modern poets have had the acclaim of the public that the Axeman had.

His collection was reprinted for many years by the Northam newspaper. Some of his satirical verse such as The Bush Geologist, and The Mining Magnate was still being circulated in mining circles in the 1980s.

Places he versifies, such as Barney Murphy's Bungalow Hotel, and the mines where he worked, were part of my wanderings fifty years ago, and my grandfather was also at Wooroloo sanatorium for TB that he got in France. PJB

“Eastward Ho!”
A trip through the Murchison Goldfields in 1894

by A Special Reporter

ISBN 978-0-85905-759-2, (1894 R 2019), A4, Indexed, 30pp, 100 grams, $22.00*

Collated by Peter J. Bridge 

ISBN 978-0-85905-763-9, (2019), A4, indexed, 40pp, 125 grams, $22.00*

The real prospecting pioneer of the Murchison, defamed and pauperised by the powers that were and are.

Goodbye Dad – See you in fifteen years. 

by Stanley & Lorraine Spring

ISBN 978-0-85905-753-0, (2019), A4, 150 pp, indexed, illustrated, 455 grams, $25.00* + postage.

Available direct from L. Spring, 4 Council place, East Fremantle, 6158. 0467 061 470. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

In Tropical Skies

A History of Aviation to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands

By Tony McGrath

ISBN 978-0-85905-756-1 (New, 2019) A4, illustrated.

$29.95* (to purchase please contact the author)

Author, Tony McGrath, specialises in Western Australian commercial aviation history

This book outlines the development of commercial aviation to Australia's Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands since 1939. Formerly British colonies, Christmas Island lies off the coast of Java just a short flight away from Jakarta, and Cocos Islands lie half-way between Perth and Sri Lanka.

The decades hold interesting tales about these remote and beguiling islands, and this book outlines their aviation history against a backdrop of wars, changes of sovereignty and other geopolitical and major events.

Qantas's post-war Australia-England air services operated via Cocos Islands and this was followed by flights via Cocos Islands to South Africa and to South East Asia. The islands soon became a vital, mid-ocean air junction between four continents. Christmas Island's earliest flights were Royal Air Force flying boats from Singapore to the island's Flying Fish Cove. It later hosted a small private landing strip, before an official airport was opened in the 1970s, enabling regular air links to the Australian mainland and to South East Asia.

This book makes compelling reading for both aviation enthusiasts and those interested in the history of Australia's Territories. Some reviewers' comments follow:

"Tony McGrath has written a wonderful story of pioneering aviation and enterprise, laced with the occasional tragedy, in one of the most unique and isolated parts of the globe." (Jim Eames, Author)

"I am impressed by the detailed coverage of the wartime years and early post-war. Tony McGrath has covered a broad subject in a very readable way, with the right degree of dates and facts where required." (Geoffrey Goodall, Aviation Historian/Writer)

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading... and was impressed with the amount of research about the air services, political intrigue and larger than life characters which made life so colourful in the early days of aviation in this remote part off the world.... profusely illustrated with photographs, many of which had never been published before. These helped bring the narrative to life. I would recommend In Tropical Skies to any reader interested in aviation history and/or life in Christmas or Cocos Islands." (Merv Prime, Aviation Historian/Writer)

_ _ _ _ _

How to buy:

Contact the author at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0417 134 458 or buy online at www.tony-mcgrath.com

Sample page images at: www.facebook.com/InTropicalSkies

RRP $29.95

Indexes. 

Gold in the Gascoyne, Winning the Gascoyne, Wheeltracks, Golden Days, My Fourth Tour.

Indexes to the above Hesperian Press books are $10 each. Eventually they will be incorporated into a vast master index of Hesperian books. If I survive that long.

Nitrate Nomads

by Daryl Binning

ISBN 13:978-0-6482274-0-3, (New, 2019), 160x240mm, heavily illustrated B&W, 39 colour plates, French flaps, 380pp, 1.2kg, $60.00* 

The exciting years of Allan Jones circuit pictures and other south-west showmen. An entertaining and highly interesting history of the early picture show business.

Incidents, biographies, film stills, will bring back memories of those who attended the bush shows in the south west halls. This will become a classic for film historians.

Available directly from the author, Daryl Binning

20 Norton Ridge, Winthrop, WA 6150

Phone (61)/(08) 9310 3377

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nullarbor Aboriginal Vocabularies and Ethnographic Notes.

by Daisy Bates

ISBN 978-0-85905-766-0, (1918 R 2019), A5, 18pp, 35 grams, $15.00* + POST

Okinawans Reaching Australia

by John Lamb.

ISBN 978-0-85905-747-9, (New, 2019), A4, 142 pp, heavily illustrated, indexed, 400 grams, $40.00* + POST

This publication fills a large gap in research into aspects of the pearl-shell fishing industry and Japanese immigration to Australia in general. Through careful research, and with over 200 photographs, John provides a comprehensive record of all Okinawans known to have ever reached Australia up until the early 1960s. He fleshes out how and why Okinawans came to be chosen over mainland Japanese in the post-war period and challenges some of the misconceptions that have arisen around their role and performance. Through identifying the stories of many individuals, including some who spent most of their working lives in Australia, he brings to life this little-known history of northern Australia. In detailing the deaths of some forty men and a half dozen births, he creates a very detailed picture of their circumstances and creates a valuable record for their families and descendants, as well as for those interested to understand more about indentured Asian labour during the time of restricted immigration.

We have only published a small run of this book, so please be early if you are interested. 

Over the Plates

Edited by Peter J. Bridge and Graeme Blake 

Each 45-53 pages, A4, ~170 grams each. Total weight 6 vols = 1kg, $25.00 each volume.

Panning Off. ISBN 978-0-85905-700-4., Weight Chasing. ISBN 978-0-85905-699-1., The Ore Bin. ISBN 978-0-85905-696-0., Retorted Gold. ISBN 978-0-85905-695-3., In the Sands. ISBN 978-0-85905-698-4., The Old State Battery. ISBN 978-0-85905-697-7.

Six volumes of the best true stories and reminiscences of the early goldfields from the 1890s to the 1930s. 

The Murchison Revisited

by FCB Vosper. Edited by Peter J. Bridge and Gail Dreezens

ISBN 978-0-85905-746-2, (R 2019), A4, 78 pages, indexed, 210 grams,

$35.00*

The mining journalist and politician wrote of the changes to the Murchison and its mines in 1895, several years after his first experiences there. Interesting comment on the people, mines and institutions of the wider Murchison goldfield.

The Outback Trip

by Anon

ISBN 978-0-85905-775-2, (1902 R 2019), A5, 7pp, 20grams, $5.00* + POST

“The Curse of Bewick Moring dark upon the mulga hangs…”

THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS’ DIARIES PROJECT INC.

To the Golden Land. Exploration to the Eastwards 1869-1896

by Peter J. Bridge and associates. With an Introduction by J.M.R Cameron.

ISBN 978-0-85905-704-2, (New, 2019), 160 x 240mm, 712 pp, colour and black and white illustrations, maps, indexed, hard cover, 2kg+, $140.00* + POST

An important contribution to the history of WA covering all that periods 65 expeditions, including many that were previously unknown. Includes for the first time all the colour plates of Forrest in the 1870s. Over 150 illustrations and maps.

Like our other Exploration Diaries this will become the basic reference in this field. Due to the poisoned arrows of our economy the edition is small, so please do not delay ordering. 

Woodlines of Western Australia 

A comprehensive history of the Goldfields woodlines.

by Phil Bianchi.

ISBN 978-0-85905-725-7, (New, 2019), 170 x 240, french flaps, heavily illustrated, 449 pages, 1.2kg, $85.00* + POST

Without a source of cheap energy to fuel steam boilers and for ore treatment, only the Western Australian mines with rich ore would have been productive.

Firewood companies established privately owned train lines up to 120 miles out from major centres such as Kalgoorlie to bring in firewood. Although the Kurrawang and Lakewood woodlines are the main feature of this book; other woodlines included Lakeside south of Boulder, Kurramia/Kanowna, Cue, Laverton, Gwalia and Westonia.

Firewood cutters, carters and loaders from war torn Europe, came to Australia seeking a better life; they lived in hessian walled basic camps with earthen floors and a tin roof. The book features 22 first-hand accounts of the hardships faced by woodliners working, living and growing up on the woodlines. Many a wife and family joining the husband after a few years were shocked at the conditions; suffering flies, heat, cold, loneliness, maggots in meat and poor quality drinking water.

Between 1900 and 1964 a total of 21.6 million tons of firewood had been cut; during 1912-16 average production was 650,000 tons per year. By the time the firewood companies ceased operations they had clear-felled a staggering 3.04 million hectares of goldfields woodlands; almost half the area of Tasmania.

Other woodline topics discussed include: racism, riots, internment, exploitation and bribery, shanties, sports days, strikes and deaths and accidents.

The Pilbarra Society.

This organisation, based at Hesperian, has been set up to concentrate on Pilbara history, its places, people, and potential. The iron ore industry has dominated the area for many decades but the history of the area since the 1860s is little known.

The characters and incidents are as interesting as that of the better known Kimberley and goldfields. Station, mine and town histories are needed and the society hopes to bring together those who can contribute to the subject.