Welcome to Hesperian Press
Hesperian Press has been publishing Real Australian Books since 1969 when its principal, Peter Bridge, first published technical material. The current program commenced in 1979 and Hesperian Press has now published well over 1000 titles, with up to 20 works in progress at any time.
Western Australian Exploration Diaries' Project.
We are currently working on the second Kimberley volume and the Central Desert volumes.
A subset of this is the bio of Sam Hazlett.
If the book is on the website and booklist it is in print and in stock.
PLEASE NOTE: Any book title starting with "The" - the second word of the title is used to list by.
All prices quoted are in Australian currency and include GST. * Short trade discount.
If you are unsure of a title use the search facility on the left hand side of this page.
We are running out of space for storing good books, so..
Australia Day / Easter Specials.
Everyday is Australia Day at Hesperian Press. Exceptional value.
Check the booklist to see the savings.
Military 1 5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Lucky Ross Trenches in the Sky Anzac Squadron Sailors in Slouch Hats Iron in the Fire Military 2 5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 All Men Back Sailor and Commando Fighting for Life Borneo Surgeon All in My Stride
5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Digging Squatting & Pioneering Life The Magic Snake 10000 Hours Tragedy Track To the Savage Land Northern Territory 2 5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 In Australian Tropics Adventures of a Trepang Fisher A Dead Mans Dream Willshire of the Alice. Darwin Dilemmas Queensland 3 big volumes, the soft cover edition. $100 plus Postage $ The Queensland Aborigines
5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Winjans People Aboriginal Perth On the Aborigines of Australia - Oldfield (soft cover) Young Soldier from the Goldfields Steadfast Endeavour
5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Pilbara Bushman Triumphs and Tragedies Australian Aboriginal String Figures Wongi wongi Landlords of the Iron Shore |
Goldfields 1 5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Travels in Western Australia Where Fortunes Lay Londonderry On Gold White Feather
5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 And Some Found Graves Gold Getting Days Wealth and Wildcats Scarlett Stain Odyssey of a Digger
5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Eager for Labour Western Pioners The Waldeck Story Catalpa Expedition Where there's Smoke There's Fry
5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 The Beckoning West Scarlett Pillows Perched on the Rails Whaleback Tales Wheel Tracks Mixed Bag 1 5 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Padre Plod Unbroken Spirit Suicides and Settlers Then they called Norma The Misfortunes of Phoebe
6 books for $50, plus postage of $14.50 Climb when Ready The Westminster Tradition Wooden Butterflys The Family Farm Camp Fire Sketches Diogenes |
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FREE BOOKS
When you visit the shop you can choose from the 'free book shelf'. Mail order - we will try to add in a free book if it does not increase the postage.
It is important that we get support for our books from our readers. Hesperian does not get taxpayer funding.
Many millions of dollars have been mis-spent on unreadable novels and plainly irrelevant and obnoxious propaganda.
There is no other publisher like us in Australia concentrating on REAL Australian history and people.
Hesperian books will stand the test of time.
But if we do not get buyer support we may not be around too long after our 50 years anniversary.
A Premier Position. Lady Margaret Elvire Forrest 1844-1929.
Chris Holyday.
ISBN 978-1-875778-09-6, A4, 41 pages, illustrated, indexed, 195 grams, $35.00*
As Margaret Elvire Hamersley, she was raised in the backblocks of Australian colonial life; as Lady Forrest, she died the widow of Australia's first Peer of the Realm. The story of her life may help to integrate Westralian and National history, as well as draw attention to the conspicuous lack of female portraits in Australian historiography. – Frank Crowley.
Lady Margaret Forrest occupied a unique position as the extremely capable wife of arguably one of the most powerful Premiers in Western Australia’s history and as one of very few individuals from whom John Forrest took counsel – indeed, she held a premier position.
Before Gold
by Jim Cameron
ISBN 978-0-85905-982-4, (New, 2023), well illustrated, indexed, French flap soft cover, 321 pages, with a 1908 colour map, $60.00
Before Gold is the mining history of Northampton. The first mining field in WA, it was a flourishing copper and lead producer. Changes in markets led to an erratic life but rich veins remain. Jim Cameron is a retired lecturer on WA economic history, and Northampton born.
Winner of the 2023 Williams/Lee Steere Publication prize.
Several of the entries were strong contenders for the prize, however one book stood out – Jim Cameron's Before Gold: the Northampton Mineral District 1846-1880. Published by Hesperian Press.
This well-researched, excellently referenced book demonstrates a high standard of scholarship and the use of a wide range of sources. It is the first work to explore the birth of the WA mining industry and the first major work to cover the period between convicts and gold – so it fills a large gap in Western Australian historical writing. Employing the skills of both geographer and historian Cameron's story is never one-dimensional as it ranges far and wide, including market prices for ore in London and Wales, transport and shipping difficulties, colonial government policies and many other aspects as well. Jim Cameron's engaging and informative narrative is supported by maps, tables and graphs and he is so familiar with his material that it feels as though he knows the people he writes about! The book is also fully indexed – a feature greatly valued by busy researchers. Before Gold is a landmark publication and a worthy winner.
Bonney Downs Station, Nullagine. Memoirs of Thora Howard.
Annotated by Margaret Vermeer.
ISBN 978-0-85905-991-6, A4, 55 pages, illustrated colour and B&W, Indexed, 190 grams, $30.00* plus postage.
Available from Margaret Vermeer (nee Gallop) 0427748236, PO Box 137, Mirrabooka 6941.
The Battle of Harvey.
Pat Trembath.
ISBN 978-1-875778-05-8, A5, 5 pages, $10.00.
A battle in a good war (ie no white men were killed). An otherwise unrecorded native fight with the usual slaughter, sometime in the mid? 1800s.
The Dempsters.
Rica Erickson.
ISBN 978-1-875778-07-2, 334 pages, 160 x 340, illustrated, French flap cover, indexed, 770 grams, $70.00*
The great pioneering family. The Dempster interests ranged from shipping and coastal trading to merchandising, from whaling to farming, from fishing to horse-breeding, from sandalwooding to pearling. They explored some of the harshest regions in the state, and successfully established a pastoral station in one of the most isolated districts. They organised searches for gold and promoted new farming methods. They were leaders in community and civic affairs and were active in politics. They built historic homesteads and founded families that carried on with the same zest for life and sturdy self-reliance that was the hallmark of their ancestors.
A small run of a long out of print book.
The Drummonds of Hawthornden.
Rica Erickson.
ISBN 978-1-875778-06-5, 208 pages, 160 x 240, illustrated, French flap cover, indexed, 520 grams, $65.00*
The pioneer botanical and police members of this family made a permanent mark on the colony.
A small run of a long out of print book.
8 Battery. An Enduring Force.
Major Ronald Cutten RFD.
ISBN 978-0-85905-990-9, (New, 2023), A4, french flaps, well illustrated, 276 pages, ~800 grams, $66.00*
The first artillery unit in Western Australia was formed in 1872 with the formation of the WA Troop of Horse Artillery (formerly the Union Troop of Mounted Volunteers). This was followed by frequent name and equipment changes, even after Federation in 1901. At the outbreak of war in 1914, Western Australia was allocated a field artillery battery. From August 1914, the existing 37 Battery militia became 8 Battery AIF.
This book tells the story of 8 Battery, a unit that made its name in World War 1 but whose influence was felt long after the cessation of this conflict.
8 Battery served from Gallipoli on through to the Western Front. While the official unit war diaries and other sources give detailed descriptions of action on the war front it is thanks to the letters and diaries left behind by two remarkable soldiers, namely Hector Roy McLarty and William (Bill) Lyall that the author has been able to capture personal stories of victories and losses, of tragedies and heroic acts, and of comradeship and service to country.
8 Battery’s influence did not end at the finish of the Great War. After World War 1 it was the basis of the continuing service of artillery in Western Australia, Members of 8 Battery also served in World War 2 units, in particular 6 Battery of 2/3 Australian Field Artillery (Greece) and in the 14thBattery of 2/7th Australian Field Regiment (Middle East). Soldiers who had been leaders in World War 1 continued their leadership in the Second World War.
The 8th Battery Association continued the strong bonds formed on the battlefield and was active right up until the 1950s.
8 Battery’s example of continuing service is reflected in today’s former and currently serving gunners. 8 Battery’s story is one that deserves to be told.
FCB Vosper of the long hair. A radical democrat ahead of his time.
Chris Holyday.
ISBN 978-0-85905-994-7, (2023, New), A4, illustrated, 145 pages, 420 grams, $40.00*
A detailed biography of a great politician. “Apart from the Premier, Sir John Forrest, no public figure was more widely known in the West Australian gold rush of the 1890s than FCB Vosper. Street-corner agitator, vitriolic newspaper editor and state politician, he achieved remarkable prominence while still in his twenties.” – Edwin Jaggard.
This is the first comprehensive biography of an outstanding democrat of democrats whose star shone brightly across the roaring nineties of the West Australian gold rushes. He was a firebrand newspaper editor, powerful public speaker, passionate miner, mineralogist, mine reporter, union agitator, MLA for Western Australia and a reformer. He has contributed significantly to the history of Western Australia and his biography makes compelling reading.
The Forgotten Art of Flash Jack Barrymore.
Works on Paper, Painted Pearl Shells and Engraved Boab Nuts, from the first half of the 20th Century.
Kim Akerman with Bruno Jordanoff.
ISBN 978-0-85905-993-0, (New, 2023), A4, Illustrated in colour, french flaps, 86 pages, 390 grams, $52.00*
In the first half of the 20th century Flash Jack was a well-known and respected artist who primarily catered for the crews and passengers of steam ships that serviced the coastal towns of Western Australia and sailed north to Singapore.
Working on paper, boab nuts and small pearl shells, Jack created images of Aboriginal life in the Kimberley. Sadly, by the 1970s his name had disappeared from the story of Kimberley indigenous art history. In The Forgotten Art of ‘Flash Jack’ Barrymore, Kim Akerman with Bruno Jordanoff examine Jack’s life and art, bringing together nearly a hundred works of art which had, until recently, been forgotten and place this extraordinary man as a crusader for Aboriginal contemporary art in the Kimberley.
GWF. William Joseph Courtney. A biographical note.
Mark Chambers & Peter J. Bridge
ISBN 978-1-875778-04-1, A5, 6pp, $10.00*
A note on the author of the volume, GWF.
HGB Mason in the Wilds of the West.
Peter J. Bridge & Geoff Blackburn.
ISBN 978-0-85905-715-8, A4, 50 pages, illustrated, 180 grams, $35.00*
A biography, with a genealogical study, and the bush verse of a previously enigmatic explorer, bushman, pastoralist, and keen cricketer. Author of the much acclaimed Darkest West Australia. A Treatise bearing on the Habits and Customs of the Aborigines and the Solution of ‘The Native Question.’ 1909.
Locked Up In Fremantle 1829-1856. Prisoners and Patients on the Marquis of Anglesea and in the Round House.
by Steve Errington.
ISBN 978-0-85905-999-2, (New, 2023), 266 pages, 240 x 160, French flap soft cover, 460 grams, $70.00.
This book is a vital addition to both Steve’s recent book on the Roundhouse and the earlier collections of the WA Dictionary of Biography series.
Peter McQuade, the Hayward family, and the Cookernup-Harvey timber industry.
Charlie Hayward.
ISBN 978-1-875778-11-9, A5, 6 pages, $10.00*
Sand and Sun. Two gold-hunting expeditions with camels in the dry lands of Central Australia.
Michael Terry.
ISBN 978-0-85905-996-1, 294 pages, 160 x 240, illustrated, French flap cover, indexed, 680 grams, $70.00.
Michael Terry led many expeditions into Central Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. His companions were the best bushmen of their time. His books have become rare and expensive. This is the second volume we have reprinted of his famous desert travels.
Scales of the Serpent. Kimberley Pearlshell in Aboriginal Australia.
by Kim Akerman.
ISBN 978-0-85905-987-9, (New, 2023), A4, Fully colour illustrated, french flap soft cover, section sewn, 190 pages, 750 grams, $110.00* Postage Australia wide is $14.50 for a single copy.
A magnificent volume presenting a detailed study of the Aboriginal use of pearl shell in both the traditional and contemporary worlds. This is already a classic. The jaded and faux art of the desert drawings is already rolling over with the freshness and strictly limited availability of pearl shell art.
To obtain the trade price, and hence for resale, there is a minimum order of 3 books. If a single copy is purchased then there is no trade discount. This does not apply to our regular trade customers. Postage will be advised on ordering. Do not pay until you receive our invoice.
Tanami Tom Laurie’s Early Murchison Experiences.
James Thompson.
ISBN 978-1-875778-12-6, A5, 5 pages, $10.00*
The Tanami Goldrush, the Laurie brothers, fellow prospectors, and the Toll of the Bush.
Peter J. Bridge.
ISBN 978-0-85905-989-3, (New, 2023), A4, 148 pages, illustrated, indexed, 400 grams, $40.00*
The great NT desert rush of around 1910 which led to the loss of many lives from thirst, starvation, accident, and attacks from the savages. Lost stories and lost lives for gold ill spent.
On the road to Tanami,
Tramp the men who do – or die;
Pioneers, the land they spy
‘Neath a leaden load o’ Care.
Ah! The heartaches Stouthearts know
Scrapin’ for the golden show!
On the road to Tanami.
Those who followed.
Thomas Clarence Andrews.
ISBN 978-1-875778-08-9, A4, 101 pages. 300 grams, $30.00*
Andrews spent many years on the Nullarbor and knew its secrets well. He writes of the native tribes, strange minerals, and the early coastal shipping. Shipwrecks, sandalwood, sealing and sailing the south coast are detailed and long stays on otherwise deserted islands of the Archipelago. The settlers of the area are described as he knew them well. A keen observer of natural history he was the guide to the 1950 Recherche Archipelago expedition described in the Hesperian book, Archipelago of the Recherche Expedition.
To the Klondyke!
Western Australians on the Yukon-Klondyke 1897-1903.
Peter J. Bridge.
ISBN 978-1-857778-10-2, A4, 153 pages, illustrated, 450 grams, $40.00*
Despite the riches around them Australians rushed to the Klondyke wastes. Few found payable gold. It was primarily just another Yankee rort aggravated by Canadian obtuseness which led to many deaths and disappointments. Perhaps the only successful operators were the transporters, Eskimo Nell’s chain of whorehouses (they were at least hot spots), and the Canadian government extorters.
Too Far Out. An administrative history of the Ngaanyatjarra homelands.
Max Angus.
ISBN 978-0-85905-992-3, (new, 2023), 160 x 240, 295 pages, well illustrated, indexed, 700 grams, $66.00*
The Explorers’ Diaries Project has now commenced work on the Central Desert. This book is a good introduction to the history of that area.
For a century following the gruelling expeditions of the first European explorers through the remote homelands of the Ngaanyatjarra people in Western Australia, successive governments concluded that the arid region was ‘beyond the limits of civilisation’. They adopted a policy of ‘non-interference’ — a euphemism for official neglect. Allocated puny budgets, administrators were without the means of providing basic human services to the Ngaanyatjarra people.
In 1934, to fill the gap, a handful of evangelical Christian missionaries arrived to build a depot near the Warburton Ranges. Conditions were primitive and support was limited. Their main goal was to lay the foundations for a Ngaanyatjarra Christian church.
The situation changed radically in the 1970s after the mission station closed and the Commonwealth government launched its policy of Aboriginal self-determination. It tried to make up for lost time but imposed an unrealistic timetable to right past wrongs, misjudging the willingness and capacity of the desert people to manage their own communities according to unfathomable administrative precepts.
This original work, based on the history of one place over many decades, looks closely at how officials of state and Commonwealth governments engaged with the people living on the Ngaanyatjarra homelands. The account avoids simplistic, narrow explanations and valuations of what was a complex struggle every step of the way.
It is deeply ironic that in the 1990s, when there were grounds for optimism in the Ngaanyatjarra communities, governments began to dismantle the administrative apparatus on which the progress was at last being built.
Max Angus is an Emeritus Professor of Education at Edith Cowan University and a former state public servant.
* In a recent email send out we listed the price incorrectly. Our apologies.
Untold Miles. Three gold-hunting expeditions amongst the picturesque borderland ranges of Central Australia.
by Michael Terry.
ISBN 978-0-85905-995-4, (2023R, 1932), 316 pages, 240 x 160, french flap soft cover, illustrated, maps, indexed, 720 grams, $75.00*
Long out of print. The great 1930s expeditions into the Central Australian wilds. Terry led many expeditions with camels and early desert vehicles and recorded the land and the lives, black and white, of the inhabitants. His works are classics of the bush.
Western Australian Ghost Mining towns, Business & Residence Areas, and Mining Camps.
Ian Murray OAM.
ISBN 978-0-85905-827-8, (New, 2023), A4, french flaps, 427 pages, 270+ maps, 1.2kg, $110.00*
This volume is recommended to be used in conjunction with the two volume West Australian Gold Towns and Settlements, published in 2011, as many of the maps are applicable to both titles.
All Hesperian Press books are prepared, printed and published in Perth.
We do not subscribe to printing overseas. Localisation, not globalisation.
We believe that one must support the nation that breeds you and feeds you, both physically and spiritually.
Exporting our jobs is like exporting our raw minerals, it only benefits parasites.