Ion Idriess

To one who for a good many years has lived among the tropic isles of Torres Strait, and whose constant regret has been that their romantic attractiveness is so little known even to Australians, the Drums of Mer comes with very strong appeal. There are some who may think that Mr Idriess is giving us simply an imaginative picture, but the author has travelled the Strait with the discerning eye and contemplative soul of the artist who is satisfied only with first-hand colour, and who, while...

Out of print for nearly 70 years, more classic tales from Ion Idriess, who explored Australia, chasing down the stories of a changing continent: "The stories in this volume record happenings or incidents in men's lives which interested me during years of wandering among the bushmen and natives of Cape York Peninsula; the pearlers, trochus and beche-de-mer getters of the Coral Sea; the native islanders of Torres Strait; the "beachcombers" of the Great Barrier Reef;...

In times past there was an Aboriginal man called Cumbo Gunnerah. His people called him The Red Kangaroo. He was a clever chief and a mighty fighter (this man from Gunnedah). Later, the white people of this place called him The Red Chief.<br /> <br />It would be hard to find a more satisfying hero than the young warrior Red Kangaroo, who by his mental and physical prowess became a chief of his tribe – the revered and powerful Red Chief of the Gunnedah district in northern New South...

The Cape York Peninsula, 1920… as the three ex-diggers talked across the bar at the West Coast, swapping stories of the War and goings-on in Cooktown and along the coast, the pioneer vision would have still been fresh and sustained by hope and dreams. All that was needed was a little luck – which might come from the Chinese gambling den across the way, or at the races, or a tip on a &apos;sure thing&apos;, be it trepang, trochus, timber or the treasures of the earth. So that day Idriess signed...

I felt certain there must be gold in those hills, Jack&apos;, wrote a prospector to Ion Idriess, &apos;but I know very little about the game.&apos; And so Jack Idriess wrote Prospecting for Gold in 1931. This is the 20th edition and known throughout Australia as the classic self-help manual for would-be prospectors.<br /> <br />&apos;This book is written to help the new hand who ventures into the bush seeking gold… The &quot;towny&quot; prospector, with this book as a guide,...

The extraordinary story of a classic Australian Pioneer – told by Australia&apos;s &apos;Boswell of the Bush&apos;, Ion L. Idriess.<br /> <br />Almost single-handedly John Flynn of the Australian Inland Mission brought to the outback the Flying Doctor Service and the Bush Hospitals. His magnificent vision, formed as he travelled on the back of a camel across the vast space of Australia&apos;s outback, took a lifetime of courageous commitment to bring to reality.<br /> <br...

Nemarluk, one of the most feared Aboriginal renegades in the north of Australia, had vowed to rid his land of all intruders. This is the story of the last three years of his life, and his extraordinary battle with the tracker, Bul-Bul, brought in by the Northern Territory police in a final desperate attempt to put an end to Nemarluk&apos;s fight.<br /> <br />Ion L. Idriess had already brought Lasseter and Flynn to the public&apos;s attention with his action-packed stories. He had...

(Author Note)<br /><b><i>Forty Fathoms Deep</i></b> is part of the story of the pearl seas of north-western Australia. In all but a few instances, I have used names well known in the pearl world of Broome, but have taken care not to hurt susceptibilities. I am conscious I have only gleaned in a field rich with romance. There is material for many books in the adventurous lives of the men who have built up the history and industry of Broome. It is to be hoped that...

One hundred years after the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba in October 1917…<br /> <br />&apos;The Desert Column is based on the diaries that he kept through out the war. Published in 1932, it is one of Idriess&apos; earliest works. Harry Chauvel noted in the foreword that it was the only book of the campaign that to his knowledge was &quot;viewed entirely from the private soldier&apos;s point of view&quot;… Idriess served as a sniper with the 5th...

Ion Idriess was a spotter for the famous Australian sniper, Billy Sing, and this book draws on his own experiences in the Gallipoli trenches during World War One. Sing had a reputation as an excellent marksman, lurking in the dark and silently sneaking up on the enemy. One day he was shot by a Turkish soldier. The bullet travelled down the barrel of his telescope, wounding both hands then went through his mouth, out his cheek and into his shoulder. He recovered from the injury, but was never...

(from The Spectator, May 1936)<br />In his introduction to Lasseter&apos;s Last Ride (Cape, 7s. 6d.) Field-Marshal Sir William Birdwood writes : &quot;The annals of Central Australian exploration are tragic and heroic, but it is long indeed since I read a more moving story of endurance and heroism in the face of terrific odds than the epic which Mr. Ion Idriess has woven out of the last few months of the life of L. H. B. Lasseter.&quot;<br /> <br />The reader will agree...

The true story of Horrie the Wog-Dog who was adopted by the Australian Signal Platoon of the M/G Battalion, in spite of all rules against keeping pets, and how Horrie not only won his stripes as a valuable addition to the group but had the further distinction of being smuggled into Australia on their return. The Wog-Dog was sneaked into Greece, went through the evacuation, carried messages as well as proving a dependable warning against air attacks. He went to Syria and Palestine, never learning...