Hesperian Press

I See Something Better Soon

How a remote community was transformed through empowerment

by Jim Heslop

ISBN 978-0-85905- 638-0, (New 2016, RP 2019), A4, 312 pages, illustrated, softcover, 840 grams

$60.00*+ POST

Reprinted as an illustrated edition.

This is an important study of early teaching in the remote community of Warakurna.

This is a book that I really did not want to write because I had hoped that the journey of community-school transformation and empowerment that was commenced in 1991 in Warakurna would have gone much further and it would have dwarfed the tentative steps that were made at that time.

Illicit Gold and the Looting of the Butterfly.

John HC “Muggins” Sleeman. Edited by Peter J. Bridge.

ISBN 978-0-85905-954-1, (R, 2022), A4, 33 pages, 130 grams, $22.00*

A selection of the Kalgoorlie writings of a great goldfields journalist John Harvey Crothers Sleeman, 1880-1946. Includes a biographical introduction and a sketch. Contains some of the more creative descriptions of goldstealing than the usual primitive fare, which explains why those who get caught are generally of an IQ matching their boot size.

In Australian Tropics

by Alfred Searcy

Foreword by Dr. C.C. McKnight

ISBN 0 85905 067 X, (1984 reprint of 1909 edition with new material), Hard Cover, 478pp, 650grams

$40.00 + POST

Searcy led an adventurous life as a customs officer in the Northern Territory in the 1880s.  

He relates his experiences of the North, buffalo and crocodile hunting, the natives, Chinese, history of the early settlements, and more.

THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS’ DIARIES PROJECT INC.

In Savage Australia

by Knut Dahl

ISBN 978-0-85905-633-5, (1926 R 2016), 240 x 160, 372pp, Hardcover, dj, indexed, illustrated, 1.1 kg

$96.00* + POST

Knut Dahl led expeditions into the NT and Kimberley in 1894-96. In Savage Australia was first published in English in 1926 but is not well known despite his interesting biological work and pertinent comments on the social habits of all races.

Dahl was a biologist with a wide knowledge and interest. Ian Abbot has written the Foreword and an appendix on the fauna described by Dahl. This is the latest volume in the Western Australian Explorers' Diaries Project and an essential reference for anyone interested in northern Australia.

In the Footsteps of David Carnegie. Bill Peasley 
ISBN 978-0-85905-812-4, 400 grams, $45.00*

In the Hands of Providence

The desert journeys of David Carnegie

by Bill Peasley

ISBN 978-0-85905-530-7, (2013), A4, illustrated, 246pp, 675g

$55.00* + POST

This is a facsimile of the original ms before it was cut for the earlier and much smaller edition. Contains photos, maps, sketches, etc. An essential companion to Spinifex and Sand.

Also contains an appendix on the death of Stansmore and the finding of his burial site.

In the Hands of Providence

by Bill Peasley.

ISBN 978-0-85905-530-7,   (R2020), A4, 246 pages, well illustrated, 700 grams, $55.00*

Bill’s retelling of the story of Carnegie’s desert journey.

In the Wake of HMAS Sydney II

by Bryan Clark

ISBN 978-0-85905-493-5, (2010 new), A4, 265pp, 740grams

$50.00* + POST

Researched over a 15-year period by the former editor of The Gascoyne Telegraph and The Northern Timesnewspapers, Bryan Clark, this newly-released book is the only record of many of the now-deceased German survivors of the World War 11 raider, HSK Kormoran, which sunk the famous Australian cruiser, HMAS Sydney 11, off the West Australian coast on November 19, 1941, resulting in the deaths of 645 Australian naval personnel.

The Incident at Afghan Rocks

edited by P.J. Bridge, J. Crocker, S. Gullefer, I. Murray and G. Dreezens

ISBN 978-0-85905-437-9, (2008new), A4, Soft Cover, 51pp, illustrated, 170grams

$22.00 + POST

On the 13 August 1894, a large contingent of camels belonging to Gunny Khan & Co arrived at Windanyer, now known as Afghan Rocks, near Israelite Bay in Western Australia. The caravan of 108 camels and 17 Afghans, led by Patrick Green, a well-known camel authority in NSW and SA, had left Bourke, NSW on the 26 June.

The Incredible Klemm

by Pat Studdy Clift

ISBN 978-0-85905-148-4, (2009 New), Soft Cover, 125 pages, 175grams

$22.00 + POST

This is the story of the remarkable Klemm Swallow aircraft built by Hans Klemm in Munich in 1934 and sent to New Guinea as a mission plane.

It is now the oldest surviving mission plane from a lost past in the jungles of New Guinea.

Indexes. 

Gold in the Gascoyne, Winning the Gascoyne, Wheeltracks, Golden Days, My Fourth Tour, The Golden Quest, Beyond Boundary Fences, Before Coolgardie II.

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.

Indian Ocean Whalers on the West Coast of New Holland

by Rod Dickson

ISBN 978-0-85905-597-0, (New, 2015), A4, 22 pp, 95grams

$22.00* + POST

This is a companion volume to the immense, The history of the Whalers on the South Coast of New Holland from 1800 – 1888, by Rod Dickson. Hesperian Press, 2007. The West Coast book lists the whalers alphabetically, with master, tonnage and rig, home port, date sailed and to which whaling ground. While not detailed to the extent of the South Coast volume, the gems of information on WA costal activities are of great interest.

Ingenious Inventor

Frank Mather and his Electweld Steel Co. at Kellerberrin

by Phil Bianchi and Ray Mather

ISBN 0 85905 404 7, (2007), A4, 40pp, illust, 140grams

$22.00* + POST

Frank Mather was an inventor and engineer whose work was renowned in the WA wheatbelt. This book details his work on gas producers, farming implements, and refurbishing and recycling the Eastern Goldfields water pipeline.

Interpreting Occupied Japan

The Diary of an Australian Soldier 1945 – 1946

by Basil Archer (edited and with an introduction by Sandra Wilson)

ISBN 978-0-85905-474-4, (2009), Soft Cover, 164pp, 280grams

$25.00 + POST

This is a rare account of early post-war Japan from the cutting edge of day-to-day work in the Allied occupation, by an Australian soldier trained in the Japanese language for occupation work.  It provides a wealth of insights into the lives both of the soldiers in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and of the Japanese with whom they lived and worked.  Basil Archer writes vividly about his journey to Japan via Morotai in Indonesia, his intelligence work as an interpreter in a country area, the places he visited and the people he encountered - Japanese, English, Scottish, Indian, American and Australian.

Into the Arms of Death 

by Neville Green

ISBN 978-0-85905-820-9, (New 2020), A4, Soft Cover, 188pp, well illustrated, 720 grams, $50.00* + Postage

An important and revelationary study of the effects of disease on Westralian Aboriginals that will change the way we perceive their diminution and which places the politicised claims of many mythical massacres squarely into the propaganda (aka bullsh) basket. From the measles of European settlers to leprosy, smallpox and VD from the great Asian disease reservoirs, the effects on native populations were a real holocaust.

Into The West

edited by Chris Holyday

ISBN 0 86778 363 6, (2005 new), Soft Cover, A4, 158pp, illustrated, 440grams

$25.00* + POST

The Western Australian goldrushes of the 1890’s witnessed the first major encounter between Australians West and East. Henry Lawson led the charge of writers who came West. This book showcases those writers and some of their works in what was a little known period of great literary activity which would prove significant for both Western Australia and Australia.

Iron in the Fire 

by Edgar Morrow

ISBN 0 85905 360 1, (2006 reprint of 1934 edition), Soft Cover, 136pp,190grams

$22.00 + POST

1896-1953, was born in Lancashire, England and arrived in Western Australia as a youth of twelve with his family to go farming at Dongerlocking.

At the start of World War I he enlisted in the 28th Battalion, attaining the rank of Corporal and served in Gallipoli and France, where he was twice wounded.

Itchy Feet

The life and travels of ‘Happy Bob’

by Bob Johnson

ISBN 978-0-85905-028-9, (2012, New), Soft Cover, A4, 128pp, illustrated, 370grams

$30.00* +POST

Bob spent most of his working life in the North, Wodgina Ta mine, on shearing teams, Big Bell, Moola Bulla Station, Bedford Downs, etc. Much info and anecdotes on the people and places. Many photos.

I’ve had a good life – Phil’s Story

by George Phillip Aitchison

ISBN 978-0-85905-377-8, (2006 R, 2010), A4, 58pp, 185grams

$22.00* + POST

Phil Aitchison’s life story has the potential to appeal to the broader community. Australians like to read about “battlers.” How he has overcome adversity and lived a fulfilling life is a fascinating story.

The International Chook Book

by Annette Ryan.

ISBN 978-0-85905-655-7, (New, 2020), A5, 36 pages, colour illustrations, 95 grams, $20.00*

Chooks by any other name… also describes the foibles of their lofty admirers. Annette’s catchy verse is a pleasure to read and smile about. Air hostess, laboratory worker, pharmacy assistant, doctor’s wife, and widow, with award winning poetry and university studies, published poet, and an audience of chooks are some of her accomplishments.