Edited by Allan L. Peters.

Recollections: Nathaniel Hailes’ adventurous life in colonial South Australia

Adelaide: Wakefield Press. 182 pages. Available from the Police Historical Society for $15 (further discount for PASA members).

English writer and reporter Nathaniel Hailes arrived in Adelaide in 1839 and began chronicling life in early colonial South Australia. He took up various careers, travelled widely and observed much of interest. He witnessed the tragic impact of alcohol on the local Aboriginal people; he saw fire destroy Adelaide’s first Government House; and became well-acquainted with some of the colony’s first murders and executions. Hailes’ observant and witty Recollections appeared originally in the South Australian Register newspaper in 1878. They are published here for the first time in book form.

Geoff Armstrong & Peter Thompson, Phar Lap.
Allen & Unwin. Paperback: $22.95

From gangly unwanted gelding to the most celebrated horse in Australia, Phar Lap had a career which reads like a work of fiction. Encompassing the highs and lows of his career, as well as the characters of the racetrack and the mystery surrounding his death, this book reveals why Phar Lap was so much more than simply a racehorse.

Tim Fischer and Peter Rees, Tim Fischer’s Outback Heroes… and Communities that Count.
Allen & Unwin. Paperback: $22.95

Former National Party leader and deputy PM Tim Fischer, during 30 years in public life, has crisscrossed rural Australia many times. In Outback Heroes, he and journalist Peter Rees tell the inspiring and sometimes humorous stories of outback Australians who, despite suffering terrible hardships, have refused to give up and who have gone on to triumph over adversity.

Anthony Telford, The Kitchen Hand: A miscellany of kitchen wisdom.
Allen & Unwin. Paperback: $22.95

The ultimate kitchen reference, this attractive, user-friendly book is packed with essential kitchen wisdom. From all aspects of food preparation and storage, measurements and conversions, with a wealth of tips about rescue remedies for kitchen disasters, plus answers to vexing questions such as how to prevent cakes from cracking, how to get burnt food off the bottom of saucepans, and how to cook for people with a gluten (wheat) allergy.

Ian Rankin, Beggars Banquet.
Orion / Allen & Unwin. Paperback: $17.95

When the sun goes down and the moon comes up and the old swing creaks in the dark, that’s when we go to the park.

Here, from the pen of bestselling crime and mystery writer Ian Rankin, comes a feast of 20 short stories, plus a novella Death is Not the End. Eight of the stories feature flawed police hero, DI John Rebus, with the old city of Edinburgh featuring almost as a character in its own right. The other stories vary in time and location between modern London and 18th century Scotland. Each has the superb plot and characterization we expect from Rankin.

Kyle Mills, Sphere of Influence.
Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback: $32.95

FBI agent Mark Beamon is suddenly recalled from his dead-end posting in Phoneix, Arizona, by a new threat. A video tape proves that a terrorist cell in the United States has access to modern missile technology, and Beamon is sent undercover. When his fellow agent is brutally murdered, Beamon’s attempts to trace the man who betrayed them lead him into an international criminal conspiracy that may have roots in the American government.

Writer Kyle Mills (Rising Phoneix) has been hailed by Tom Clancy as fast becoming “the new master of gripping and intelligent page-turners”.

Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror.
Columbia University Press. Paperback: $29.95
Available from News Weekly Books (Melbourne): www.newsweekly.com.au

The author, a renowned expert on terrorism, examines the leadership, ideology, organization, strategies and tactics of al Qaeda. His book is based on five years’ research, including extensive interviews with al Qaeda members, field research in al Qaeda-supported conflict zones around the globe, and monitoring of al Qaeda’s infiltration of diaspora and migrant communities in North America and in Europe. It includes a post-Bali preface and comprehensive details of Jemaah Islamiyah’s infiltration of our region.

George Jacobs, Mr S: The Last Word on Frank Sinatra.
Pan Macmillan. $33

An insider’s account of life with Sinatra during the heady years of the Rat Pack that’s as cool, original and dazzling as the man himself. George Jacobs is generally considered “the last of the Rat Pack”, a member of the exclusive club that has fascinated the public for decades. Mr S gives an insider’s view of the highs and lows of life with the Rat Pack – the spectacles, the affairs, the unrecounted brawls and tensions among the wild revellers.

Paul Livingston, Releasing the Imbecile Within: An incomplete idiot’s guide.
Allen & Unwin. Paperback: $19.95

“I was once a respected journalist, now I’m a panel show host. Thank you, Releasing the Imbecile Within.” – Tony Squires.

It seems that the highest achievers in our society are not those who show intelligence, reason and foresight, but instead are talkshow hosts, actors, sporting identities and tele-marketing entrepreneurs. In this essential self-help book for intellectual over-achievers, Releasing the Imbecile Within will take you step-by-step on a tongue-in-cheek journey to achieving ignorance and mundanity.

Paul Livingston – better known as Flacco – is a Sydney-based actor and comedian.

Ron Bennetts, The Stockmarket as Easy as ABC: A guide for new participants.
ABC Books. 89 pages. Paperback: $14.95

Many people are intimidated by the stockmarket, thinking that you have to be fabulously wealthy or a financial genius to get started. But this comprehensive and very readable beginner’s guide – completely updated and revised – takes the mystery out of the stockmarket and explains all you need to know about investing in shares. It introduces you to:

• Different investment strategies.
• Factors affecting the stockmarket.
• How to read newspaper reports.
• Phases of the stockmarket cycle.
• Bull and bear markets.
• How to assess types of risks.

Ron Bennetts is a fellow of the Australian Securities Institute and presents the daily stockmarket features on ABC Radio in Perth.

Special Book Offer

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