Robert Hughes. An epic description of the brutal transportation of men, women and children out of Georgian Britain into horrific penal system which was to be the precursor to the Gulag and was the origin of Australia. 688pp.

Colin Dyer. A detailed and highly readable account. This highly readable account offers a fresh perspective on the early European exploration of Australia. 240pp.

A Hardcover facsimile reprint of the diary of Ernest Giles is available. This is the first major printing since 1875 and it contains the diary records of Giles' first two explorations in the Ayers Rock, Petermann Ranges, Gibson Desert area. The book is a hard cover book of 225 pages with a fold out map drawn by Giles inside the back cover. I found it fascinating reading and can recommend it to anyone interested in the exploration of Australia.

Ernest Giles has been described as the last of the great nineteenth century explorers. No explorer covered more territory than Giles and none wrote more vivid and evocative accounts of his experiences. Now for the first time since 1875 Giles' own first hand account of his two major Central Australian expeditions has been republished. Geographic Travels in Central Australia from 1872 to 1874 by Ernest Giles is a facsimile copy of the original 1875 publication.

A record of Farming, Whaling and Shipping in Portland Bay, 1834 – 1839. A 300 page, high quality hard cover book printed by Melbourne University Press. These five copies are the last available from the publisher.

Anthony J Brown. Between them, Baudin and Flinders filled in most of the gaps on the map of what was then New Holland but both voyages ended in personal disaster. 528pp.

Facsimile edition of the book originally printed in 1909. 374pp. Hard Cover.

Bruce Simpson

The disappearance in 1848 of Leichhardt and his party is one of the most enduring mysteries in Australia's history. Nearly 100 years later four stockmen found some strange colonial artefacts on a remote Queensland property, it seemed some of the questions may have been answered.

The author was one of the men who made the discovery. Simpson now tells how he and his mates went on a journey of investigation of what they believed to be Leichhardt's passing, offering his own explanation for what happened to the ill-fated expedition.

Captain James Cook's three voyages in the eighteenth century were the last great voyages of discovery. Horwitz vividly recounts these voyages and exotic scenes he encountered, as well as exploring the man himself. From poor farm boy to the greatest navigator in history.

Augustus Charles Gregory. Australian explorations in the Western, Northern and Central portions of Australia. 210pp.

This is a facsimile edition of the original journal as presented to Parliament in 1902 and gives us a fascinating insight into the daily activities of the exploring party. Wells is quite descriptive in his writing. 'We came upon a splendid waterhole about 30 chains long and up to one chain wide. It is shaded by some beautiful white-barked gum trees, their green foliage affording a pleasant relief to the eye.' This was named Harry Johnstone Waterhole by Wells and was visited by Bev and I as we recently travelled the Wiluna-Carnegie road. 'Wretched red sandridges stretch in all directions, and porcupine, interspersed with a few desert gums and dwarf tea-tree shrubs, is everywhere.' is what Wells wrote at a later stage in his trip.

The journal of 62 pages also contains accounts of the search party's travels as they looked for Charles Wells and George Jones who perished in the desert some distance from Joanna Spring. This is a valuable daily record of the Calvert Expedition which crossed the desert on a route roughly parallel to the Canning Stock Route

by Philip Edwards, chronicles Cooks sea voyages of discovery