Born to Command – not to take orders
The Brooks Family of Balbinia station
Pioneers of Israelite Bay, Western Australia
by John Simpson
ISBN 978-0-85905-647-2, (New, 2017), A4, illustrated, indexed, 146 pp, 420grams
$40.00* + POST
The saga of the Brooks family on their isolated station on the edge of the Nullarbor shows the great spirit of settlers in opening hard new land. John Paul Brooks, his sister Sarah, and mother Emily, spent most of their life in physical isolation but kept up international correspondence and cooperation with botanists and geographers. This is an important biography of a family that shows success is not always the reward for hard work. Only a few of those who ventured created long lasting establishments. Not giving up in the face of great adversity is an achievement which must be honoured, recorded and disseminated as an example for others who may feel overwhelmed by their situations.