THIS ACCIDENTAL PRESENT
A Story of Two Families
by Ross Wilson

The interesting lives of extraordinary people: Kath Walker and Sir Raphael and Lady Phyllis Cilento. IN 1951, Kath Walker (later Ooodgeroo Noonuccal) became the live-in-housekepper for the family of Sir Raphael and Lady Cilento, an illustrious Brisbane medical fanily with connections ot the United Nations, and - through Diana Cilento and her husband Sean Connery - global show business. IN 1953, Kath had a son - Vivian - with the scion of the Cilento clam, Dr Raff Cilento Jnr, who didn't acknowledge his paternity. OOdgeroo became the best selling poet in AUstralia; and an important Aboriginal activist - while Raff Jnr would become a neurosurgeon in New York. Vivian was a renowned choreographer and dancer in Sydney and London, and for a while, part owner of the world's largest gay disco in West Hollywood. Yet at the heart of the lifelong relationship between these families was a secret. On her deathbed, Oodgeroo wanted to know whether Lady Cilento ever knoew that Vivian was her grandson.

First edition, 2023, cardcover, 140pages, B&W photos

$30.00

RAIN GOD
The Highs and Lows of Clement Wragge, Meteorolgist with a mission
by Ian James Frazer

Clement Wragge is sometimes remembered as the colourful and combative Australasian metereorologist whose use of people's names to nickname cyclones and storms in the 1890s caught on around the world. Described at the hights of his career as Australia's most famous man and also derivisely, as ""The Rain God", Ïnclement" Wragge set standards for a national weather service, pioneered long-range forecasting, and campaigned against massive land-clearing, fearing this assault on nature was reducing rainfall. Years later, after reinventing himself in New Zealand as travelling science educator, he was feted by the likes of Sir Conan Doyle. This is the first full biography of Clement Wragge's rebellious and adventurous life - the srange story of a sef-taught metereologist from England's industrial Midlands, a 19th century scientist with 21st century anxieties. He trusted in physics perfectied by a Creator and held profound fears for humanity, yet had irrespressible faith in human ingenuity to overcome.

First edition 2023, cardcover, 458pages, BW`photos, Index

$40.00

MEMORIES AND MEDICINE IN EAST ARNHEM LAND
by Dr Paul Mercer

John and phyllis Mercer were young Christians who sensed a call to Mission in 1951. Under the oversight of the Chrurch Missionary Society (CMS), JOhn was assigned to Arnhem Land. In 1953 they were married in Sydney and returned together to the remote, newly established settlement of Numbulwar on the mouth of the Rose River in the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1958 they moved to Groote Eylandt in 1958 and later to Darwin. THis story is told through their son Dr Paul Mercer. The focus of a 'Health Issue' lens, has allowed for a structuring of the story - a window into Christian Mission.

First edition, 2021, cardcover, 122 pages, colour and BW photos

$30.00

ADVENTURES WITH AGITATORS
Stories of Indigenous Australia
by Paul Richards

This book is a tribute to the resilience, determination, patience and tolerance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait People in Queensland. In a series of short yarns about the battles in the justice and political systems, this book exposes the cruelty and hypocrisy of the ruling elite of Australia in pursuing policies of segregation and marginalisation. While Australia pointed the finger at South Africa, it maintianed the same policies for Indigenous Australians. The book is not a history, a biography or a legal anthropological text. It is an easy read for those wanting to understand the recent past. The author has had the advantage of being privy to the tragedies and dramas of Indigenous people in this state, as well as their humour and humanity. The word "agitator" was applied politically and judicially to any of them who sought justice. In a celebrated Hight Court case involving Percy Neal, Justice Lionel Murphy opined that, without agitators"there would be no advance towards civilisation". These are the stories of the adventures of the brave agitators, to share with people of good heart.

First edition 2019, cardcover, 320 pages, BW`photos

$40.00

THE TORRES STRAIT ISLANDS
by Queensland Art Gallery

This supurb book was produced to mark The Torres Strait Islands: A Celebration, a cultural event held at the South Brisbane Cultural Precinct in 2011. This was the largest and most significant celebration of contemporary Torres Strait culture ever held. The combined exhibitions and cultural events highlighted the unique contemporary art of the islands with dance objects, prints, film, video, textiles, ceramics, installations and performances. Held at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, the Queensland Museumand, The State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Performing Arts Complex.

First edition, 2011, cardcover, 320 pages, map, fully illustrated in colour, ISBN 978-1-921503-207

$80.00

BEAUTIFUL TUFI
Between the Past and the Future
by Jan Hasselberg

During Jan Hasselberg’s first stays at Tufi, he learned that the area has a very dramatic and interesting history and a great wealth of natural treasures. He was also met with warmth and hospitality, which made it natural for him to go back and experience more of what ‘beautiful Tufi’ has to offer. The idea for Beautiful Tufi: Between the Past and the Future was born after the author’s second visit to the area in 2006, and two years later, he started making serious preparations for the book. As with many other developing nations, much of the news that reaches the outside world about Papua New Guinea is of the negative kind, and the many misconceptions Hasselberg has met with abroad has also triggered his inspiration to fill in some of the missing pieces. After many hours of story-telling in shelters all along this fascinating coastline; after long canoe rides and hikes through the forests; and after an endless number of wonderful experiences, the author believes he has the material to give you an idea of what life at Tufi is like. Experience Beautiful Tufi: Between the Past and the Future as you immerse in this colorful, exciting and informative book.

First edition 2013, cardcover, 242 pages, BW and colour photos & map
ISBN 978-1-4685-864-5

$50.00

WILD AUSTRALIA
Meston's Wild Australia Show 1892-1893
by Michael Aird, Mandana Mapar and Paul Memmott

The 'Wild Australia Show' was conceived by Archibald Meston and was a travelling troupe of 27Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people conscripted from the Queensland frontier who performed in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne during 1892 and 1893 in preparation for departure on an international tour in the era of World Exhibitions. However the plans were curtailed by contractual disputes, scandals of financial incompetence and accusations of the capture of certain troupe members against their will in chains. The exhibition came out of a meticulous process of collection and research by Queensland Museum senior curators Michael Aird and Mandana Mapar, and University of Queensland academic, Professor Paul Memmott who place the previously unknown images in a visual and historic context. This exhibition catalogue uses the same title of Meston's show of more than 120 years ago, Wild Australia, and gives human dignity to the names and faces of the people in the photographs, whose strength of spirit and determination are evident in the gazes of the portrait subjects.

First edition, 2015, cardcover, 32 pages, map, fully illustrated, ISBN 978-0-9923241-2-4

$20.00

THE FATAL VOYAGE
Captain Cook's Last Great Journey
by Peter Aughton

Captain Cook had captained two long voyages of discovery and had charted the east coast of Australia, New Zealand and innumerable islands in the Pacific. At the age of 47 he was awarded a comfortable pension for life and looked set to spend his retirement with his family in Greenwich. But after many years at sea he could not succumb to the monotony of life on shore. The Fatal Voyage is the story of his final epic journey when he led an expedition to search for the elusive North West Passage. He set sail from England in July 1776 but was never to return. He was killed in Hawaii in 1779.
First edition 2005, hard cover with dust jacket, colour illustrations, maps, index
ISBN 1-84437-050-X

$40.00

GIRROO GURRLL
The First Surveyor and other Aboriginal Legends
by Gladys Henry

A unique book featuring traditional legends from the Murray Upper and Tully region of north Queensland. The book is illustrated with the artwork of Tommy Warroon and drawings by Gladys Henry. A list of traditional words and meanings is also included.
second edition 1986, cardcover, 78 pages, map, wordlist, fully illustrated with black & white photographs, drawings (limited stock)

$30.00

THE CAPTAIN COOK ENCYCLOPEDIA
written and edited by John Robson

This encyclopedia aims to provide answers on all aspects of the life and voyages of Captain James Cook, and the people, places, events and ships associated with him. Researched and written by leading Cook experts, it both reflects the traditional views of Cook while incorporating the latest reassesments, especially noting the attitudes of the peoples of the Pacific on whose lives Cook made such an impact.
First edition 2004, hard cover with dust jacket, colour & B&W photographs, illustrations, maps, chronology, index (Limted Stock) ISBN 0-7593-1011-4

$40.00