PLEASE NOTE: Any book title starting with "The" - the second word of the title is used to list by.
The Common Thread – Arnold Weinholt
Aussies in the thick of it. Stories from East Africa WWI, WWII. Ada Woodhill, Australian First Lady of German East Africa. And SOE’s Ethiopian Mission 101
Geoff Blackburn
ISBN 978-0-85905-710-3, (New, 2018), A4, illustrated, 40 pp, 185 grams
$25.00 + POST
The first, and hopefully not the last, Australian politician shot for spying. Unreported byways and fascinating African adventures in the Great Game.
Cue to the Klondyke
Herbert Annesley Ainsworth
ISBN 978-0-85905-724-0, (New, 2018), A4, 28pp, 100 grams
$15.00* + POST
A great story of adventure and perseverance in two great gold rushes.
Dingbat Flat
The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Riots of 1934
Rod Moncrieff
ISBN 978-0-85905-711-0, (New, 2018), A4, illustrated, 178pp, 500grams
$35.00* + POST
The race based riots and their causes have echoed over the past century. The first dispassionate study of a usually highly politicised incident. Essential reading for the multiculters.
“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*
THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS’ DIARIES PROJECT INC.
Exploration Eastwards 1860-1869
Edited by Peter Bridge and Kim Epton. (WAEDP series.)
ISBN 978-0-85905-701-1, (New, 2018), casebound, section sewn, illustrated, maps, indexed, 576 pages, 1.5kg
$115.00* + POST
Contains some 30 expeditions including Lefroy and CC Hunt with appendices on the plants by Alex George and animals by Ian Abbott. Biographical notes on all known expedition members. Resolves the problems of the 'convicts gold' and Hunt's unknown convict helpers.
This is a very small run which will ensure future scarcity.
The companion volume 1869-1896 will go to the printers in July.
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.
Horse Trams of the old West
Peter J. Bridge
ISBN 978-0-85905-733-2, (New, 2018), A4, illustrated, 26pp, 90 grams
$20.00* + POST
Horse trams were a feature of the old north coastal towns, taking passengers and cargo from the jetties to the townships.
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.
Jim’s Story
Reminiscences of a petroleum geologist
Jim Parry
ISBN 978-0-85905-726-4, (New, 2018), A4, 93pp, Illustrated, 270 grams
$30.00* + POST
Jim Parry joined WAPET in 1952 and was involved in all their oil exploration, including Rough Range. Later he worked in Libya, returning to work on Barrow Island. A good read for all the old rock choppers.
THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS’ DIARIES PROJECT INC.
Journal of the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition 1891-1892
David Lindsay
Edited by Peter J. Bridge, Calliope Bridge and Celene Bridge
ISBN 978-0-85905-658-8, (Reprint 1893 + New 2018), Casebound, section sewn, illustrated - b&w and colour, maps, indexed, 397 pages, 1.08 kg,
$105.00* + POST
With appendices on the plants by Alex George and animals by Ian Abbott, reported by the expedition. Also the full Anthropology report by Richard Helms which has not been available for over a century, which contains 6 colour plates and many b&w photos. Biographies of all the men.
This is a very small run which will ensure future scarcity.
Massacre!
Peter J Bridge
ISBN 978-0-85905-734-9, (New, 2018), A4, 53pp, illustrated, 170 grams
$30.00* + POST
The brutal shootings and bludgeoning to death of many Aboriginal men, women and children at Laverton in 1910 shocked the nation. It was the culmination of a series of attacks and murders but the trial resulted in the acquittal of the perpetrators.
Memoirs of Ted Cockram
Teamster, Tailor and Tourism
A life in the NW
Ted Cockram
ISBN 978-0-85905-703-5, (New, 2018), A4, 220pp, illustrated, 600 grams
45.00* + POST
Ted’s early bush life led to his being one of the major promotors of tourism in the North and the Goldfields, long before the current slick marketing campaigns have made their millions. An important bio of a genuine Westralian.