By Ishmael Beah

The first chapter: There were all kinds of stories told about the war that made it sound as fi it was happening in a faraway and different land. It wasn't until refugees started passing through our town that we began to see that it was actually taking place in our country. Families who had walked hundreds of miles told how relatives had been killed and their houses burned. Some people felt sorry for them and offered them places to stay, but most of the refugees refused, because they said the war would eventually reach our town. The children of these families wouldn't look at us, and they jumped at the sound of chopping wood or as stones landed on the tin roofs flung by children hunting birds with slingshots. The adults among these children from the war zones would be lost in their thoughts during conversations with the elders of my town. Apart from their fatigue and malnourishment, it was evident they had seen something that plagued their minds, something that we would refuse to accept if they told us al of it.

NY. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2007. 256p.. USED BOOK. CONTAINS MARK-UP

Edited by Tim Causer

Among the vast body of manuscripts composed and collected by the philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832), held by UCL Library's Special Collections, is the earliest Australian convict narrative, Memorandoms by James Martin. This document also happens to be the only extant first-hand account of the most well-known, and most mythologized, escape from Australia by transported convicts. On the night of 28 March 1791, James Martin, William and Mary Bryant and their two infant children, and six other male convicts, stole the colony's fishing boat and sailed out of Sydney Harbour. Within ten weeks they had reached Kupang in West Timor, having, in an amazing feat of endurance, travelled over 3,000 miles (c. 5,000) kilometres) in an open boat. There they passed themselves off as the survivors of a shipwreck, a ruse which-initially, at least-fooled their Dutch hosts. This new edition of the Memorandoms includes full colour reproductions of the original manuscripts, making available for the first time this hugely important document, alongside a transcript with commentary describing the events and key characters. The book also features a scholarly introduction which examines their escape and early convict absconding in New South Wales more generally, and, drawing on primary records, presents new research which sheds light on the fate of the escapees after they reached Kupang. The introduction also assesses the voluminous literature on this most famous escape, and critically examines the myths and fictions created around it and the escapees, myths which have gone unchallenged for far too long. Finally, the introduction briefly discusses Jeremy Bentham's views on convict transportation and their enduring impact. [Show full item record]

London: UCL Press, 2017. 204p.

By Mark Twain

From Wikipedia: The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress is a travel book by American author Mark Twain. Published in 1869, it humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered steamship Quaker City (formerly USS Quaker City) through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers in 1867. The five-month voyage included numerous side trips on land. The book, which sometimes appears with the subtitle "The New Pilgrim's Progress", became the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime,[2] as well as one of the best-selling travel books of all time.[3]

American Publishing Company. 1869[1]. 674p.

By Charles Dickens. With 8 Illustrations By Marcus Stone, R.A.

From Wikipedia; “Pictures from Italy is a travelogue by Charles Dickens, written in 1846. The book reveals the concerns of its author as he presents, according to Kate Flint, the country "like a chaotic magic-lantern show, fascinated both by the spectacle it offers, and by himself as spectator…”

London Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1913. 200p.

By Jill Ker Conway

"The Road from Coorain" is a memoir written by Jill Ker Conway, first published in 1989. The book tells the story of Conway's upbringing on a remote sheep farm in the Australian outback, and her journey to become an acclaimed historian, feminist, and academic leader.

Conway's childhood on the Coorain farm was both idyllic and challenging. She learned to love the vast, untamed landscape of the Australian bush, and to appreciate the hard work and self-reliance that were necessary for survival in such a harsh environment. At the same time, however, she struggled to find her place in a world that was often hostile to women and to intellectual curiosity.

Despite these challenges, Conway was determined to pursue her dreams of education and self-improvement. She attended the University of Sydney, where she discovered a passion for history, and went on to earn a scholarship to study at Harvard University in the United States. Over the course of her career, she became a respected scholar of Australian history, a dedicated advocate for women's rights, and a pioneering academic leader.

NY. Vintage. 1990. 238p.

By Alba Donati. Trans. Elena Pala.

"Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop" is a memoir by British author and bookshop owner, Nicky Pellegrino, published in 2017. The book tells the story of Pellegrino's journey as she moves from London to a small Tuscan village to open a bookshop, and her experiences as she adapts to life in Italy.

Throughout the book, Pellegrino shares her love of books and her passion for sharing that love with others. She writes about the challenges of opening a bookshop in a small, rural community, and the joys and frustrations of running a business in a foreign country. She also writes about her relationships with the people in her village, and how she came to appreciate the slower pace of life in Italy.

The book is a celebration of the simple pleasures of life, such as good food, good books, and good company. Pellegrino's writing is warm and engaging, and she paints a vivid picture of life in Tuscany, with its stunning scenery, rich culture, and vibrant community.

London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 2022. 197p.

By Sidney Poitier

"Life Beyond Measure: Letters to my Great-Granddaughter" is a memoir by Sidney Poitier, published in 2008. The book is a series of letters that Poitier wrote to his great-granddaughter, Ayele, sharing his experiences, values, and wisdom.

In the book, Poitier shares stories from his childhood in the Bahamas and his struggles as a young actor in New York City. He also reflects on his roles in groundbreaking films such as "To Sir, with Love" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," which dealt with issues of race and social justice.

Throughout the book, Poitier shares his beliefs in the power of education, hard work, and empathy, as well as the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions and treating others with kindness and respect. He also writes about his deep love for his family and his belief in the importance of maintaining strong familial bonds.

"Life Beyond Measure" is a deeply personal and reflective work that offers readers a glimpse into the life and values of one of Hollywood's most iconic actors. Poitier's writing is thoughtful and introspective, and his insights into life, family, and the human experience are both inspiring and insightful.

London. Simon and Schuster. 2008. 307p.

By Kate Grenville

When The Secret River—a novel about frontier violence in early Australia—appeared in 2005, it became an instant best seller and garnered publicity for its unflinching look at Australia’s notorious history. It has since been published all over the world and translated into twenty languages. Grenville’s next novel, The Lieutenant, continued her exploration of Australia’s first settlement and again, caused controversy for its bold view of her homeland’s beginnings. Sarah Thornhill brings this acclaimed trilogy to an emotionally explosive conclusion.

Sarah is the youngest daughter of William Thornhill, the pioneer at the center of The Secret River. Unknown to Sarah, her father—an ex-convict from London—has built his fortune on the blood of Aboriginal people. With a fine stone house and plenty of money, Thornhill is a man who has reinvented himself. As he tells his daughter, he “never looks back,” and Sarah grows up learning not to ask about the past. Instead, her eyes are on handsome Jack Langland, whom she’s loved since she was a child. Their romance seems idyllic, but the ugly secret in Sarah’s family is poised to ambush them both.

As she did with The Secret River, Grenville once again digs into her own family history to tell a story about the past that still resonates today. Driven by the captivating voice of the illiterate Sarah—at once headstrong, sympathetic, curious, and refreshingly honest—this is an unforgettable portrait of a passionate woman caught up in a historical moment that’s left an indelible mark on the present.

Melbourne. Text Publishing. 2011. 301p.

By Ian Braybrook

Ian Braybrook was a radio broadcaster in Central Victoria for many years. His childhood and early teen years are far removed from the "glamour" of that job.

Ian's family was desperately poor and the early death of his father had a far-reaching effect on his life. By the age of thirteen, when he got his fi rst job, he had lived in twenty homes and changed schools ten times.

His story moves from Daylesford, Trentham and Blackwood districts in the Central Highlands to East Gippsland, South Gippsland, the Western District and the Riverina of NSW. His many jobs included a telegram boy, farm hand, builders and general labourer, storeman, shift worker, fruit picker, shearing shed wool presser and truck driver. Along the way he was homeless, suffered two potentially fatal illnesses, experienced violent abuse and suffered a sexual assault.

Written originally for family, the story proved to be of far wider interest. The adventures and misadventures crammed into the first eighteen years of Ian's life provide an important record of the way life was for some in the depression and post-depression era.

Castlemaine Vic. Marilyn Bennet Publishing. 2018. 286p.

By   Charles Darwin

Edited By Charles W Eliot. From the Preface: “The Voyage of the *Beagle’ has been by far the most im­portant event in my life, and has determined my whole career. ... I have always felt that I owe to the voyage the first real training or education of my mind; I was led to attend closely to several branches of natural history, and thus my powers of observation were improved, though they were always fairly developed. . . .”

“The above various special studies were, however, of no im­portance compared with the habit of energetic industry and of concentrated attention to whatever I was engaged in, which I then acquired. Everything about which I thought or read was made to bear directly on what I had seen or was likely to see; and this habit of mind was continued during the five years of the voyage. I feel sure that it was this training which has en­abled me to do whatever I have done in science.”

NY. P F Collier & Son. 1843. 517p. .

By Alan Greenspan

“This book is in part a detective story. After 9/11 I knew, if I needed further reinforcement, that we are living in a new world—the world of a global capitalist economy that is vastly more flexible, resilient, open, self-correcting, and fast-changing than it was even a quarter century earlier. It’s a world that presents us with enormous new possibilities but also enormous new chal­lenges. The Age of Turbulence is my attempt to understand the nature of this new world: how we got here, what were living through, and what lies over the horizon, for good and for ill. Where possible, I convey my understanding in the context of my own experiences. I do this out of a sense of responsibil­ity to the historical record, and so that readers will know where I’m coming from. The book is therefore divided into halves: the first half is my effort to retrace the arc of my learning curve, and the second half is a more objective effort to use this as the foundation on which to erect a conceptual framework for understanding the new global economy. Along the way I explore critical elements of this emerging global environment: the principles of governing it; the vast energy infrastructure that powers it; the global financial imbalances and dramatic shifts in world demographics that threaten it; and, despite its unquestioned success, the chronic concern over the justice of the distribution of its rewards. Finally, I bring together what we can reasonably conjecture about the makeup of the world economy in 2030.”

NY. Penguin. 2007. 561p.

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley, Old Mortality, The Heart of Mid-Lothian and The Bride of Lammermoor, and the narrative poems The Lady of the Lake and Marmion. He had a major impact on European and American literature. As an advocate, judge and legal administrator by profession, he combined writing and editing with daily work as Clerk of Session and Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire.

A Read-Me.Org Classic Reprint. 2022.

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By Hilary McLaughlin-Stonham.

On the streetcars of New Orleans 1830s-Present. This study chronologically surveys segregation on the streetcars from the antebellum period in which black stereotypes and justification for segregation were formed. The paternalistic nature of white supremacy is considered and how this was gradually replaced with an unassailable white supremacist atmosphere that often restricted the actions of whites, as well as blacks, and the effect that this had on urban transport. Streetcars became the 'theatres' for black resistance throughout the era and this survey considers the symbolic part they played in civil rights up to the present day.

Liverpool University Press (2020) 272 pages.

By Anthony Comstock.

Or, how the people are deceived and robbed, and youth corrupted. My object is to expose the multitudinous schemes and devices of the sharper to deceive and rob the unwary and credulous through the mails; to warn honest and simple-minded persons ; to shield our youth from debauching and corrupting influences ; to arouse a public sentiment against the vampires who are casting deadly poison into the fountain of moral purity in the children ; and at the same time expose to public indignation the infidels and liberals who defend these moral cancer-planters.

New York: J.H. Brown, 1880. 576p.

By William Atherton DuPuy.

“May I ask you to close your eyes for a moment and conjure up the picture that is filed away in your mind under the heading, "detective"?

There! You have him. He is a large man of middle age. His tendency is toward stoutness. The first detail of him that stands out in your conception is his shoes. In stories you have read, plays you have seen, the detective has had square-toed shoes. You noticed his shoes that time when the house was robbed and a plain clothes man came out and snooped about.

These shoes are a survival of the days when the detective walked his beat; for the sleuth, of course, is a graduate policeman. He must have been a large man to have been a policeman, and he must have attained some age to have passed through the grades. Such men as he always put on flesh with age.

New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1916. 247p.

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By William H. Van Orden.

Also known as The Twenty-Third Street Mystery By Police Captain James (actually William H. Van Orden). This is a rare detective story, possibly a precursor of The Shadow first featured by Orson Welles on his radio program in the 1940-1941.

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1888) 239 pages.

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By Alexandra Ganser.

The book traces the construction and function of the pirate in transatlantic American literature from the late 17th century to the Civil War, exploring in what ways the cultural imaginary teased out the pirate’s ambivalent potential as a figure of both identification and Othering, and how it has been used to negotiate ideas of legitimacy. The study recasts piracy as a discursive category moving in a continuum between the propagation of (post-)colonial adventure and accumulation on the one hand and critical commentary on exploitation and oppression on the other. Reading piracy narratives as symptomatic of various crisis scenarios in the US context, the book examines how the pirate was imbued with (de)legitimatory meaning during such periods in both elite and popular texts.

Cham: Springer Nature, 2020. 302p.

By J. W. Buel.

An authentic and thrilling history of the most noted bandits of ancient or modern times, An authentic and thrilling history of the most noted bandits of ancient or modern times, The Younger Brothers, Jesse And Frank James, and their Comrades in Crime. Compiled from reliable sources only and containing the latest facts in regard to these celebrated outlaws.

Historical Publishing Company. (1881) 416 pages.

By Thomas Holmes.

Edward Donald. “In the various chapters that make up this volume I have made no attempt to deal with the whole of the humanity that finds its way into London Police Courts I have but selected a few individuals who strikingly illustrate human or social problems. Each of those individuals was well known to me, and many of them have cost me anxious thought and prolonged care.”

Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1902) 233 pages.

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Unknown Author.

A Thrilling Story of the Adventures and Exploits of Frank and Jesse James, Missouri's Twin Wraiths of Robbery and Murder. "Containing a complete sketch of the romance of guerrilla warfare; together with a graphic and detailed account of the robberies and murders of twenty years; and the last daring feats of the James' confederacy in the robbery and murder on the Rock Island train, July 14th, 1881, and at Glendale, Mo., Sept. 17th, 1881; to which is added an account of the tragic end of Jesse James, shot by a confederate April 3rd, 1882." (From Worldcat)

Chicago: Laird and Lee, 1893. 367p.

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