Reading List
Here is a brief selection of favorite, new and hard-to-find books, prepared for your journey. For your convenience, you may call (800) 342-2164 to order these books directly from Longitude, a specialty mail-order book service. You can also find them at local bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Essential
Australia Map
Hildebrand
A large, doublesided map of Australia, at an excellent scale of 1:2,800,000. National parks, reserves and roads are all clearly marked. With some topographic relief and city plans of major urban centers.
Australia: the East, Travellers’ Wildlife Guides
by Les Beletsky
A wonderfully comprehensive guide to the plant and animal life of eastern Australia. The colorful book features illustrations of 650 commonly encountered fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds and special sections of the Great Barrier Reef and eastern Australian and Tasmanian wildlife parks and reserves.
Fodor’s Exploring Australia
by Michael Ivory, 2005
This excellent, up-to-date guide will take you Down Under with ease—and style. With maps, illustrations and unusually solid information on features of cultural, historical and natural interest.
Exploring Australia
by Michael Ivory, 2002
This excellent, up-to-date guide will take you Down Under with ease – and style. With maps, illustrations and unusually solid information on features of cultural, historical and natural interest.
In a Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson, 2001
Bryson revels in Australia’s eccentric characters, dangerous flora and fauna, and other oddities. As has become his custom, Bryson effortlessly imparts much history in this wildly funny book.
History, Culture, & People
A Commonwealth of Thieves, The Improbable Birth of Australia
Thomas Keneally
Novelist Keneally illuminates the birth of new South Wales with drama and flair, richly evoking the social conditions in London, long sea voyage and the conditions in Australia.
Australia, A New history of the Great Southern Land
by Frank Welsh
In this authoritative, balanced history Frank Welsh focuses on the political development of Australia from the European discovery of the continent through the period of colonization.
Cultural Atlas of Australia, New Zealand & the
South Pacific
by Richard Nile & Christian Clerk, 1996
This handsome volume weaves together history, geography, archaeology, and the arts, covering the Australasian region from prehistory up to the founding of the modern nations.
Concise History of Australia
by Stuart MacIntyre, 2000
The most up-to-date single-volume Australian history available.
Australia: A Cultural History
by John Rickard, 1997
A scholarly exploration of the way a distinctive national culture was built up in the period between federation in 1901 and the outbreak of the Second World War, how that culture has been modified and challenged in the postwar era, and the evolution of Australia's social and political institutions against the changing imperial relationship.
The Fatal Shore
by Robert Hughes, 1988
This National Bestseller is the captivating account of those who were transported to the penal colonies of Australia between 1787 & 1868 by convicts from England. Exciting, revealing, compulsively readable.
Claiming a Continent: A New History of Australia
by David Day, 2001
Moving consistently from the past to the present, Day creates an accurate portrait of the Australian people. A provocative social history of Australia from 1770 until the present.
Field Guides & Nature
Australia, An Ecotraveler’s Guide
by Hannah Robinson, 2002
A handbook and guide to wildlife, habitats and travel in Australia with 400 color photographs and excellent descriptive information.
Natural History of Australia
by Tim Berra, 1998
A well-written and beautifully illustrated overview of Australia's natural history. Covers people, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Over 200 color photos.
Stinging Trees & Wait-A-Whiles: Confessions of a Rainforest Biologist
by William F. Laurence, 2000
A personal and hilarious account of William F. Laurence's field work in the Australian rainforest, describing his efforts at conservation and the zany characters--plant, animal, and human that he encounters.
Field Guide to Australian Wildflowers
by Denise Grieg, 2000
This illustrated manual describes more than 100 common Australian wildflowers.
Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia
by Peter Menkhorst & Frank Knight (Illustrator), 2001
A comprehensive guide to 376 species of kangaroos, koalas, bandicoots, wombats, deer, seals, whales and other mammals of Australia.
Birds of Australia, The Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight Field Guide
by Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight (Illustrator), 1999
A classic handbook and field guide to 778 species of birds in Australia, revised with 2,500 all new color illustrations, and distribution maps.
Great Barrier Reef
by David Doubilet, 2002
In this breathtaking, collector-quality edition, world renowned underwater photographer Doubilet presents his stunning photobiography of the majestic 1,250-mile span of Australia's Great Barrier Reef in full-color photos.
Coral Reef Fishes: Caribbean, Indian Ocean and
Pacific Ocean Including the Red Sea
by Lieske & Myers, 1996
Collins guides are respected worldwide. Includes all fishes likely to be observed to a depth of 60m. 2074 species with over 2500 color illustrations. Enables divers and snorkelers to identify the inhabitants of coral reefs, wherever they are in the world.
Travelogues And Literature
Australia: A Traveler's Literary Companion
by Robert Ross, 1997
A delightful collection of stories by Australian writers that reflect the ethos of place - the country's natural, cultural, and geographical personality. The stories present a rich variety of regional character, topography, and wildlife throughout Australia.
Australian Literature: An Anthology of Writing from the Land Down Under
by Phyllis Fahrie Edelson (Ed.), 1993
These captivating selections come from major voices, both famous and lesser known, and encompass short stories, memoirs, novels and aboriginal writings.
Travelers Tales: Australia- True Stories of Life Down Under
by Larry Habegger & Amy G. Carlson, 1999
An enchanting book filled with tales of the "land down under". Notable authors include: Robyn Davidson, Tim Cahill, Bruce Chatwin, Robert Hughes, Tony Horwitz, and Paul Theroux.
Indigenous Australian Voices: A Reader
by J. Sabbioni, S. Smith, & K. Schaffer, (Editors) 1998
A collection of poetry and prose by contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, the first of its kind in the United States.
Wisdom From the Earth: The Living Legacy of the Aboriginal Dreamtime
by Anna Voigt & Drury Nevill, 1998
Celebrates the sacred world of the indigenous Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through stunning photos and text.
Songlines
by Bruce Chatwin, 1988
In this unusual book on Aboriginal culture and the Outback, Chatwin combines straightforward reporting, history, dream-time stories, and a heady mix of quotations from his notebooks. A blend of travelogue, history, philosophy and memoir. The New York Times calls this Chatwin's bravest and most moving book. Set in the desolate land of the Australian Outback, Chatwin journeys to find the meaning of the Aboriginal's ancient "Dreaming-tracks." Wonderful.
Dream Stuff
by David Malouf, 2001
A collection of powerfully evocative stories that encompass a half-century of Australian life.
The Journals of Captain Cook
by James Cook (edited by Philip Edwards), 2000
Abridged from the definitive four-volume Hakluyt Society edition-- Cook's inimitable personal account of his years of voyaging is made widely accessible for the first time and includes an introduction to each voyage, a glossary of unusual words, indexes of people and places, and a postscript assessing the controversy surrounding Cook's death.
True History of the Kelly Gang
by Peter Carey, 2001
Executed more than a century ago, Ned Kelly still resonates as that country's most potent legend, now brought to life by the award-winning author of Oscar & Lucinda. A powerful, daring novel, steeped in the colonial history of 19th-century Australia.
An Australian Girl
by Catherine Martin, 1999
As Australia began the process of breaking away from its status as a British colony, Catherine Martin was fascinated with the meaning of Australian culture and identity. She examines these issues through the story of the independent and intelligent Stella Courtland, a young girl who marries and finds herself hampered by the social constraints of her new life.
Road From Coorain
by Jill Ker Conway, 1990
This autobiographical work brings alive the history and culture of Australia. Conway shares her journey from a childhood on an isolated sheep farm in the outback to her departure for America. An extraordinarily gripping and inspiring work.
Cloudstreet
by Tim Winton, 2001
From separate catastrophes, two working-class rural Australian families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering house called Cloudstreet
Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback
by Robyn Davidson, 1995
The brilliantly written and frequently hilarious account of Robyn Davidison's odyssey through the deserts of Australia with only her dog and four camels as companions.
Sean & David’s Long Drive
by Sean Condon, 1996
Join two young brash Aussies on their 14,000 kilometer car ride throughout Australia. An irreverent, off-beat, and fun look at a different side of Australia
Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific
by Paul Theroux, 1993
In true Theroux style, the well-known travel writer takes you on a personal journey through the South Pacific as he kayaks from island to island.
Miscellaneous Books
Sydney: The Story of a City
by Geoffrey Moorhouse, 2000
The author's remarkable insight, and gift for storytelling capture Sydney's warmth, texture, resilience, and loyalty.
Culture Shock: Australia
by Ilsa Sharp, 2001
An easy-to-use guide to Australian customs and manners, which explains the many social situations that you will find yourself in.
Art/Food
Aboriginal Art - World of Art Series
by Wally Caruana, 1993
This first concise overview of Australia's Aboriginal art surveys one of the world's longest and richest, yet most neglected, traditions of art. The author discusses Aboriginal artists within their politically volatile social and cultural history, and reinstates their place in contemporary world culture.
Australian Art - Oxford History of Art
by Andrew Sayers, 2001
A comprehensive survey, covering both Aboriginal and European Australians, and providing a revealing examination of the interaction between the two.
Crush: The New Australian Wine Book
by Max Allen, 2001
Allen compiles 10 years of traveling and tasting in this exploration of more than 40 wine-producing regions, combining personal anecdotes with up to the minute facts about Australia’s grapes, vineyards, wines and producers
Australian Food: In Celebration of the New Australian Cuisine
by Alan Saunders, 1999
Alan Saunders explores the special features that distinguish his country’s uniquely bold cuisine and chronicles its rapid evolution. In the process, he introduces the talented chefs and culinary experts who are driving the movement and whose creations have tempted the palates of the world.
Concise History of Australian Wine
by John Beeston, 2001
Beeston charts the growth, decline and rebirth of the major wine growing areas and trends in consumption
Australian Phrasebook
by Lonely Planet
This guide provides a unique insight into Australia's many cultures as manifested through its languages - from a fascinating look at the scores of indigenous language groups to finding out what they're really saying at that Aussie barbie. Lots of information and lots of fun!
Guide Books
There are thousands of guidebooks available to travelers. We recommend the following as the leaders in quality, content, and presentation, or for their specialized travel advice.
Insight Guides (& Pocket Guides)
LONELY PLANET SERIES
ROUGH GUIDES
FOOTPRINT GUIDES
EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDES
MOON HANDBOOKS
BLUE GUIDES