A hostile beauty: Life on Macquarie Island by Alistair Dermer
Pan MacMillan Release Blurb:
'...There are few places today that are truly wild. Macquarie Island is still one such place, a small, wind-blasted rocky outcrop between Tasmania and Antarctica. In exquisite pictures and words, A Hostile Beauty tells the story of this extraordinary Australian outpost teeming with life.
Alistair Dermer's stunning photography gives us an up-close look at the lives of the inhabitants: gentle gentoo penguins, engorged elephant-seal bulls and scavenging skuas, and takes us deep into a landscape that is as beautiful and life-giving as it is hostile and pitiless. Let these superb images, from the fury of the squalling Southern Ocean to the warm, trusting eyes of a seal pup, transport you to one of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth....'
Author Information Alistair Dermer spent six months on Macquarie Island over the summer of 2001-02, working as a research assistant and living in a small cabin on the east coast, each day capturing the rugged beauty of the island with his two analogue cameras. He works in natural-resource management and is devoted to our natural heritage. He has worked with the Australian Antarctic Division, Conservation Volunteers Australia, Greencorp and most recently with Bush Heritage Australia.
Danielle Wood lectures in writing at the University of Tasmania and is author of the award-winning fiction books The Alphabet of Light and Dark and Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls. She visited Macquarie Island in 1998 while working as a media officer for the Parks and Wildlife Service and the island's beauty and wildness have been an ongoing inspiration for her writing.
Cost $69.99. Can be ordered here...
'...There are few places today that are truly wild. Macquarie Island is still one such place, a small, wind-blasted rocky outcrop between Tasmania and Antarctica. In exquisite pictures and words, A Hostile Beauty tells the story of this extraordinary Australian outpost teeming with life.
Alistair Dermer's stunning photography gives us an up-close look at the lives of the inhabitants: gentle gentoo penguins, engorged elephant-seal bulls and scavenging skuas, and takes us deep into a landscape that is as beautiful and life-giving as it is hostile and pitiless. Let these superb images, from the fury of the squalling Southern Ocean to the warm, trusting eyes of a seal pup, transport you to one of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth....'
Author Information Alistair Dermer spent six months on Macquarie Island over the summer of 2001-02, working as a research assistant and living in a small cabin on the east coast, each day capturing the rugged beauty of the island with his two analogue cameras. He works in natural-resource management and is devoted to our natural heritage. He has worked with the Australian Antarctic Division, Conservation Volunteers Australia, Greencorp and most recently with Bush Heritage Australia.
Danielle Wood lectures in writing at the University of Tasmania and is author of the award-winning fiction books The Alphabet of Light and Dark and Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls. She visited Macquarie Island in 1998 while working as a media officer for the Parks and Wildlife Service and the island's beauty and wildness have been an ongoing inspiration for her writing.
Cost $69.99. Can be ordered here...
The Quest for Frank Wild by Angie Butler
The Quest for Frank Wild tells the gripping story of Angie Butler’s determination to unravel the truth of the final years of Frank Wild, one of the greatest British Edwardian Polar explorers of all time.
He supposedly died in penury unable to come to terms with Ernest Shackleton’s death and forgotten by his fellowmen in the small mining town of Klerksdorp near Johannesburg. The little that was known of his later life in South Africa has been maligned by hearsay and sensational journalism and most tragically of all, no-one knew where he was buried. An outstanding man lost in life and in death.
The author’s seven year journey finally uncovers an extraordinary untold story and by doing so not only fulfils Wild’s wish to have his Memoirs published but ultimately makes an astonishing discovery.
The Memoirs stand alone as a unique account of Edwardian Polar exploration.
The Quest For Frank Wild costs £25 , Postage:UK = £2.50, Europe = £3.80,Rest of the world = £6.50
To order click here...
He supposedly died in penury unable to come to terms with Ernest Shackleton’s death and forgotten by his fellowmen in the small mining town of Klerksdorp near Johannesburg. The little that was known of his later life in South Africa has been maligned by hearsay and sensational journalism and most tragically of all, no-one knew where he was buried. An outstanding man lost in life and in death.
The author’s seven year journey finally uncovers an extraordinary untold story and by doing so not only fulfils Wild’s wish to have his Memoirs published but ultimately makes an astonishing discovery.
The Memoirs stand alone as a unique account of Edwardian Polar exploration.
The Quest For Frank Wild costs £25 , Postage:UK = £2.50, Europe = £3.80,Rest of the world = £6.50
To order click here...
In Bed with Douglas Mawson by Craig Cormack
Departing Hobart on a seven-week voyage onboard the RSV Aurora Australia, Craig Cormick is fulfilling a long-time dream to visit the frozen continent of Antarctica - an adventure to one of the few under-discovered regions of the world.
As they navigate through the wild Southern Ocean and explore the icy coastline of Antarctica continent, he muses about the great explorer and geologist Douglas Mawson. Mawson's ill-fates, but scientifically successful, Australian Antarctic Expedition sailed from Hobart in 1911, as Scott and Amundsen were embarking on their race tot he South Pole.
Visiting the three Australian bases, with Mawson's ghost at this side, Craig Cormick describes the exhilaration of seeing his first iceberg, climbing a mountain on the antarctic plateau, flying in a helicopter of the Vestfold Hills, photographing Adelie penguins, seeing the spectacular Aurora Australia in the sky, smelling elephant seals and discovering the mysteries of 'crap and wrap' field toilets.
In Bed with Mawson is a humorous and thoughtful exploration of the enduring spirit of discovery, adventure and comradeship around Antarctica.
Cost AUD $30, available on line bookstores
The book was recently reviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald -see here...
As they navigate through the wild Southern Ocean and explore the icy coastline of Antarctica continent, he muses about the great explorer and geologist Douglas Mawson. Mawson's ill-fates, but scientifically successful, Australian Antarctic Expedition sailed from Hobart in 1911, as Scott and Amundsen were embarking on their race tot he South Pole.
Visiting the three Australian bases, with Mawson's ghost at this side, Craig Cormick describes the exhilaration of seeing his first iceberg, climbing a mountain on the antarctic plateau, flying in a helicopter of the Vestfold Hills, photographing Adelie penguins, seeing the spectacular Aurora Australia in the sky, smelling elephant seals and discovering the mysteries of 'crap and wrap' field toilets.
In Bed with Mawson is a humorous and thoughtful exploration of the enduring spirit of discovery, adventure and comradeship around Antarctica.
Cost AUD $30, available on line bookstores
The book was recently reviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald -see here...
An empire of Ice by Edward Larson
Published to coincide with the centenary of the first expeditions to reach the South Pole, An Empire of Ice presents a fascinating new take on Antarctic exploration. Retold with added information, it's the first book to place the famed voyages of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, his British rivals Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, and others in a larger scientific, social, and geopolitical context. Efficient, well prepared, and focused solely on the goal of getting to his destination and back, Amundsen has earned his place in history as the first to reach the South Pole. Scott, meanwhile, has been reduced in the public mind to a dashing incompetent who stands for little more than relentless perseverance in the face of inevitable defeat.
An Empire of Ice offers a new perspective on the Antarctic expeditions of the early twentieth century by looking at the British efforts for what they actually were: massive scientific enterprises in which reaching the South Pole was but a spectacular sideshow.
By focusing on the larger purpose, Edward Larson deepens our appreciation of the explorers' achievements, shares little-known stories, and shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really about.
Professor Larson was interviewed on The Book Show on ABC Radio National on Thursday 14 July 2011. The book by Professor Edward Larson, is being published by Inbooks and will be available in July 2011.
An Empire of Ice offers a new perspective on the Antarctic expeditions of the early twentieth century by looking at the British efforts for what they actually were: massive scientific enterprises in which reaching the South Pole was but a spectacular sideshow.
By focusing on the larger purpose, Edward Larson deepens our appreciation of the explorers' achievements, shares little-known stories, and shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really about.
Professor Larson was interviewed on The Book Show on ABC Radio National on Thursday 14 July 2011. The book by Professor Edward Larson, is being published by Inbooks and will be available in July 2011.
Antarctica. Photographs by Bob Dingle.
Susan Gordon Brown recently viewed some of Bob Dingle's photographs from his many trips to the Antarctic. She subsequently compiled a book which is filled with a selection of photographs as a private gift for Bob.
Since then a few other Club members have seen the book and requested copies. With Bob's consent, the book is available for general purchase at cost price from the internet 'Blurb' bookstore.
The book includes many classic images of working and social life down south. It can be purchased for $61.94 plus shipping at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2271046.
Book details: Hard cover with dust jacket, premium lustre paper, 80 pages. Colour slides were scanned and Bob wrote up the captions to the images.
Since then a few other Club members have seen the book and requested copies. With Bob's consent, the book is available for general purchase at cost price from the internet 'Blurb' bookstore.
The book includes many classic images of working and social life down south. It can be purchased for $61.94 plus shipping at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2271046.
Book details: Hard cover with dust jacket, premium lustre paper, 80 pages. Colour slides were scanned and Bob wrote up the captions to the images.
