Hesperian Press
REAL AUSTRALIAN BOOKS
All prices quoted are in Australian currency and include GST. * Short trade discount.
A - B
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A Clouded Vision by Hugh Clift 
[ISBN 0 85905 320 2], (2003 New), Soft Cover, Wire spiral A4, 128pp, illustrated, 375grams,  $28.00* 
The life of Andrew Barr, pioneer inventor and Doodlakine farmer.

A Dead Mans Dream – Lasseter’s Reef Found  by Angie Testa and Bill Decarli
[ISBN 0 85905 356 3], (New 2005), Soft Cover,104pp, illustrated, 145grams, $22.00
Ever since Harold Lasseter died in 1931 in his pursuit of his infamous gold-bearing quartz reef, the location of this reef has remained a tantalising mystery.

 

A Gold Seeker’s Odyssey by L R Menzies
[ISBN 0 85905 290 7], (2004 reprint of 1937 edition with new material), Soft Cover, 171pp, 235grams $28.00
Leslie Menzies was one of the hopeful band of prospectors who arrived in Western Australia during the 1890s goldrush.

A Look Over The Edge by Jeanie Crago
[ISBN 0 85905 294 X], (2002 New), Soft Cover, illustrated, $25.50
Follow the lives of five children in this detour off the well-worn path of life into the outback of Australia.

 

A Story of the COWALLA COAST RUN 1873 - 1964 by W. J. deBurgh
[ISBN 0 85905 380 6], (2007 New), soft cover, 46pp, illustrated, 80 grams, $12.00
Born in 1912, WJ (Bill) de Burgh spent all his working life on his family's two Moore River properties, Cowalla and Baramba

 

A Thousand Miles and More – a tramp through the Coolgardie Goldfields by Duke Stewart.
[ISBN 0 85905 427 6], (2008 Reprint 1896), Soft Cover, 54pp, 95 grams, $15.00*.
In 1896 Duke Stewart set out to report on the conditions of the new Coolgardie goldfields. By walking he absorbed the reality of the bush, meeting the prospectors and sharing their camps.

 

A Varied And Versatile Life by F. Wittenoom edited by R.L. Lefroy
[ISBN 0 85905 317 2], (2003 upgraded reprint), Soft Cover, Wire spiral A4, 109pp illustrated, 325grams $28.00*
The first pastoral settlement of the Murchison.

 

A Voyage Of No Importance by R. Dickson
[ISBN 0 85905 298 2], (2003 New), Soft Cover, 126pp illustrated, 180grams, $22.00
An epic dinghy voyage on the wild Kimberley coast in 1920 interwoven with shipwrecks and murder, which cost the lives of 5 white men.

 

A Welsh Australian Journey 1742-2004 by Stuart L.G. Morgan
[ISBN 0 85905 357 1], (2004 New), Soft Cover, A4,540grams, $30.00*
The author, the son and grandson of Welsh mining engineers, migrated to Western Australia from the UK in early 1949. Most of that year was spent at the blue asbestos town of Wittenoom Gorge.

Aboriginal Australian String Figures by D.S.Davidson
[ISBN 0 85905 369 5] ( 1941, 2006) Soft Cover, 141 pp, 200grams, $26.00.
Davidson collected these figures, mainly in WA, in the 1930s.
 
Aboriginal Corporations, Communities and Outstations by Ian Murray
ISBN 085905 333 4 , 2006 new, 52pp A4, 320grams, $22.00*
Lists hundreds of corporations, outstations and communities
 

Aboriginal Perth by Daisy Bates
[ISBN 0 85905 135 8], (1992 New), Soft Cover, 208pp, illustrated, 260grams, $28.00
A collection of her writings on the now-extinct Aborigines of the Perth and South West areas of Western Australia. Customs, beliefs, biographies and more.

 

Adventures of a Trepang Fisher by George H. Sunter
[ISBN 0 85905 234 6], (1997 reprint of 1937 edition with new material), Soft Cover, 292pp, illustrated, 380grams, $28.00
A Northern Territory classic. Sunter’s life and adventures fishing for trepang in Arnhem Land on the coast of northern Australia

Agnew by Alex Palmer
[ISBN 0 85905 267 2], (2000 New), Soft Cover, 142pp, illustrated, 190grams, $22.00
The history of the goldfield’s town, its rise and fall and the life of its people.

All Gold. The Death of Stephen Grace by Peter J Bridge with Ian Murray, Gail Dreezens and Moya Sharp.
[ISBN 0 85905 398 9], (2007 New), Soft Cover, A4, 30pp, saddle, illust, 135 grams, $16*
Grace was the head of APLA, the prospectors association, and was murdered by blacks in 1907, while on a prospecting expedition along the RPF.

All in My Stride by Richard Harris
[ISBN 0 85905 260 5], (1999 New), Soft Cover, 216pp, illustrated, 230grams, $22.00
The biography of John Gilmour, 2/4th Machine Gunner, P.O.W. and champion athlete.

 

All Men Back by Bill Bee
[ISBN 0 85905 254 0], (1998 New), Soft Cover, 156pp, illustrated, 230grams, $22.00
The experiences of Bill Bee, as a sailor on HMAS Perth, sunk by the Japanese, and then as a POW on the Burma Railway and in Japanese coal mines. The appendix lists the crew of the HMAS Perth and their fate. An insert map shows al l Japanese POW campsites.

Along the Ashburton by Rhonda McDonald
[ISBN 0 85905 288 5], (2002 New), Soft Cover, illustrated, 385grams, $30.00
The history of the people and stations of the Onslow and the Ashburton River districts.

 

Alphabetical Index to the 1954 “List of Cancelled Gold Mining Leases Which Have Produced Gold” by P. J. Bridge
(1972 New), Soft Cover, 68pp, A3, 400grams, $50.00* (Direct from Publisher only)
This is an essential companion to the List of Cancelled GMLs produced by the Mines Dept which is in district order. With the alpha index and the namee of a GML its locality can be found. 

 

And if her droughts are bitter by Gladys Linke  OUT OF PRINT
[ISBN 085905 228 1], (2003 reprint of 1996 edition), Soft Cover, 133pp, illustrated, 180g, $22.00. The Linke family and their life on the far outback Prenti Downs and Carnegie Station. Also on the Canning Stock Route. 
Family direct sales:-Northam 089 621 2555, Prenti Downs 089 981 2988, Paroo Station 089 981 2882.

And Some Found Graves by A.J. Thompson
[ISBN 0 85905 186 2], (2002 reprint of 1993 edition), Soft Cover, 95pp, illustrated, 150grams, $16.50
The 1895-96 goldfields’ diary of New Zealand prospector John Aspinall who was tragically killed by lightning. His lonely grave is at Hawks Nest, near Laverton, Western Australia.

An Island Unto Itself by Professor L.R. Marchant
[ISBN 0 85905 120 X], (1988 New), Soft Cover, 224pp, illustrated, 460grams, $28.00
The biography and history of William Dampier; his times and exploration in Western Australia in 1688 and 1699

Anzac Squadron, The by Norman Ashworth
[ISBN 0 85905 198 6], (1994 New), Soft Cover, 285pp, illustrated, 350grams, $33.00
The history of the RAAF 461 Squadron - Sunderland Flying Boats formed in 1942 to attack U-Boats. Details of the planes and men.
 

 

Australia Twice Traversed by Ernest. Giles
[ISBN 0 85905 206 0], (1995 reprint of 1889 edition), 382pp, illustrated, 670grams, $50.00
A classic of Australian exploration in one volume, including maps. 

Bardie. The life and writings of E E Shillington. By Peter J Bridge with Gail Dreezens.
[ISBN 0 85905 397 0], (2007 New), Soft Cover, A4, 52pp, saddle, 175 grams, $22*
Shillington and his mates discovered Sandstone. An interesting writer who could have become an antipodean Bret Harte, but instead had the trams running on time.

Battling for Gold by John Marshall
[ISBN 0 85905 040 8], (1984 reprint of 1903 edition with new material), Soft Cover, 206pp, illustrated, 240grams, $22.00
John Marshall, adventurer, journalist, public figure and Digger’s leader on the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie goldfield wrote of early days on the fields in what is the best collection of goldfields’ stories.

 
Beckoning West, The  by Eleanor Smith
[ISBN 0 85905 251 6], 1998 reprint of 1966 edition with new material, Soft Cover, 256 pp, illustrated, 325grams, $28.00
The story of the Canning Stock Route's construction. 
Eleanor Smith, who was a nurse before her marriage in 1930, travelled extensively in the outback
 

Ben Bowyang by the Herald.
[ISBN 0 85905 430 6], (2008 Reprint 1936, 1938), A4, Soft Cover, 53pp, illustrated, 175 grams, $22.00*
A reprint of the rare and classic comic of the bush character, Ben Bowyang and his mates, Kanga, Wilson, Hogan, Lil, and the Parson.

Beyond Boundary Fences by G.J.C McDonald
[ISBN 0 85905 207 9], (1996 New), Soft Cover, 264pp, illustrated, 340grams, $28.00
The early Murchison goldfield's characters, Aborigines, bushmen and outlaws.

 
Bicycle and the Bush, The by J. Fitzpatrick
[ISBN 0 85905 250 8], 2002 reprint of 1980 edition, Soft Cover, 256pp, illustrated, 530grams, $50.00*
The best book on bicycle history ever.  The effect of the bicycle on the Australian outback. 
 

Black and white and in between by Peter Gifford
[ISBN 085905 301 6], (2002 New), Soft Cover, illustrated, 330grams, $28.00
The life of Arthur Dimer and a history of the southern Nullarbor. No. 20 in the Aboriginal Studies Series.

 

Black and White, Best Together by Don & Meg Shedley.
[ISBN 0 85905 405 5], (New 2007), Soft Cover, illust, 276 pp, 485 grams$35*
The story of the Shedley family and how their Christian ministry in the Kimberley and changed the lives of many, both black and white, greatly for the better.

 

Bloody Lucky by Jack Thorpe OAM
[ISBN 0 85905 381 4], 2006, A4, 178p illustrated,480grams, $30.00
This book is an amazing and enthralling story of survival. From a harsh childhood through the brutalities of the Japanese in Changi, the Burma Railway, Saigon, and the coal mines of Japan. It is remarkable that he survived any of the hazardous and dangerous episodes. He did, and now he is a tower of strength in his country community.

 

Body and Soul - an Aboriginal View by A.R. Piele
[ISBN 0 85905 233 8], (1997 New), Hard Cover, 334pp, 700grams, $55.00*
Aboriginal concepts of medicine. Piele spent many years at Balgo Community in the Great Sandy Desert and this is destined to become a classic work.

Borneo Surgeon - A Reluctant Hero. The life of Dr James D. Taylor by Peter Firkins
[ISBN 0 85905 211 7], (1995 New), 161pp, illustrated, SC 250grams, HC 300grams, SC $22.00, HC $28.00
Dr Taylor, a civilian tortured and imprisoned by the Japanese in Borneo, ran an underground organisation to help the POWs who later died in the Sandakan death march.

 

Born to be a Drover - the life story of Jim Freeth 1913-1990. by Jim Freeth
[ISBN 0 85905 346 6], (2004 reprint from 1991), Soft Cover, 72pages, A4, illustrated, 210grams $ 22.00*
This is probably the best documented biography of a W.A drover.

 

Bowyangs and Boomerangs by M.J. O’Reilly
[ISBN 0 85905 063 7], (1984 reprint of 1944 edition with new material), Soft Cover, 167pp, 200grams, $15.00
Mulga Mick’s account of life in Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania and his mining of gold, wolfram, opals and osmiridium. Swagging, Afghans, camels, mica mines and life from the 1890s in the Australian bush.

Bride Ships, The by Rica Erickson
[ISBN 0 85905 162 5], (2005 New), Soft Cover, A4, 71pp,  grams, $
United Kingdom immigrants in the 1800s who became settlers in Western Australia. An important social history and of great genealogical interest.

 

Bullfinch and the Yilgarn Goldfield by Gilbert Ralph
[ISBN 0 85905 395 4], (2007 New), Soft cover, 288 pages, illustrated, under 500 gram packed, $35.00*
Bullfinch and the Yilgarn Goldfield had its beginnings with a suggestion from Sir Laurence Brodie-Hall that the unique nature of the community at Bullfinch during the Great Western Consolidated era from 1950 to 1963 deserved recording.

Bulloo Downs Drover by Peter Hall
[ISBN 0 85905 293 1], (2002 New), Soft Cover, 135grams, $16.50
Droving and station life on Ilgararie and Bulloo Downs Stations, north of Meekatharra.

Bullwinkel by Norm Manners
[ISBN 0 85905 265 6], (2000 New), Soft Cover, 248pp, illustrated, 340grams, $30.00
The first full biography of Sister Bullwinkel, sole survivor of a group of Australian nurses murdered by the Japanese on Banka Island in 1941. Machine gunned and starved, she survived to return to high office in Australian nursing.

 

Bushmans Directory, The by Mary Taylor.
[ISBN 0 85905 417 9], (2007 New), A4, Soft Cover, 136pp, 375 grams, $30.00*.
A biographical index to WA drovers, stockmen, mailmen, doggers, teamsters, shepherds, boundary riders, fencers, etc, from the 1800s to the 1970s.

 

Bush Justice by Ron Brown & Pat Studdy-Clift
[ISBN 0 85905 146 3], (1990 New), Soft Cover, 256pp, illustrated, 340grams, $28.00
The experiences of one of the last police officers in Central Australia to patrol by camel. Life in the bush, its people and their foibles. One of the best books on Central Australia.

Bush Kids and Bartoo by Mildred Gordon
[ISBN 0 85905 338 5], (2004 New), 54pp, A4, Soft Cover, 175grams $22.00*
Mildred Gordon describes life on a remote Centralian Station in the 1920s and 30s and includes her mother's writings of the local Aboriginal legends, published for the first time.