Susanna De Vries

In the 1890s when a woman's role was seen as marrying well and raising a family, Daisy Bates reinvented herself on migrating to Australia, from humble governess to heiress traveller. She would become one of the best known and most controversial ethnologists in history, and one of the first people to Aboriginal culture on the map. 294 pages

Diamonds and Dust

Sheryl McCorry grew up in Arnhem Land carrying crocodiles to school for show and tell. When she was 18, Broome beckoned, ant is was there that – only hours after being railroaded into marriage by a fast-talking Yank – she locked eyes with Bob McCorry, a drover and buffalo shooter. When her marriage ended they began a romance that would last a lifetime. Sheryl soon learned that to survive in the outback a woman needed goals. Hers was to become the first woman in the Kimberley to run two million-acre cattle stations. But it was to come at an unimaginable cost. 292pp.

The setting is outback Queensland. The lifestyle is hard and solitary. Perhaps it's little wonder there are so few dogger's left in Australia. This is the story of Ned Wilson, one of the last.

A B Facey. 

This is an extraordinary life of an extraordinary man. It is the story of Albert Facey, who lived with simple honesty, compassion and courage. A parentless boy who started work when he was eight. He struggled as an itinerant rural worker, survived the gore of Gallipoli, the loss of his farm in the depression, the death of his son in World War II and that of his beloved wife after sixty devoted years – yet he felt his life was still fortunate. S/c 330p.  

The story of a boy who ran away from home to go bush and never came back. Photos, 160 pp.