Ion Idriess
Список книг автора Ion IdriessShoot to Kill
Idriess was a trooper with the Light Horse at Gallipoli, all the way to Beersheba, and his diary was published as <i>The Desert Column</i>. Drawing on his military experience, this is one of six manuals written for soldiers and civilians in 1942, when invasion by the Japanese seemed imminent.<br /> <br />Written in his characteristic, colloquial, man-to-man style, Mr Idriess here reveals the secrets of the dead shot. What to do and what not to do are impressed upon the budding rifleman. He brings out clearly the importance of apparently trifling points.<br /><br />No more opportune book could have been published. Australia for the first time in its history has been bombed. Invasion looms on our northern frontier. The imperative need now is for rifles, more rifles, yet more rifles – and riflemen.
Prospecting for Gold
I felt certain there must be gold in those hills, Jack', wrote a prospector to Ion Idriess, 'but I know very little about the game.' 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 />'This book is written to help the new hand who ventures into the bush seeking gold… The "towny" prospector, with this book as a guide, will soon master methods of prospecting and the working of his find.'<br /> <br />In an easy conversational tone, the author of <i>Lasseter's Last Ride</i> and <i>Flynn of the Inland</i> sets many a hopeful prospector on the road to discovering gold.
Madman's Island
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 'sure thing', be it trepang, trochus, timber or the treasures of the earth. So that day Idriess signed up for a sure thing with George Tritton – or perhaps not such a sure thing; Dick Welsh, Idriess's best mate, chose not to go. Even so, a few days later Jack (Idriess's frontier name) and George set sail for Howick Island. Before the end of the decade Idriess had renamed both the Island and his companion – he wrote that he had gone to Madman's Island with his mate, Charlie…<br /> <br /><b><i>Madman's Island</i></b>; Idriess as character and author – fact or fiction. Fifty books later the seam he struck after returning from the War was mined out. There was nothing left that could be said about frontier life as Idriess saw and said it. It required and still needs to be understood from other perspectives. But Ion Idriess – as Jack Idriess along the Bloomfield, in the Tablelands back of Cairns, and along the coast of north Queensland – gives us a participant's view. It's a voice we should attend to – it's our voice from a fading past.<br /> <br /><i>Ernest Hunter, from his Introduction.</i>
The Yellow Joss
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; and along the eastern coast and in the Arafura Sea towards the west."<br />With authenticity that sometimes surprises the reader, Idriess introduces us to Aboriginals from Northern Australia, Papuan head-hunters, and Islanders around the Great Barrier Reef, all still in the colonial phase of European contact. Chinese gold diggers appear too, well before the rise of China. Idriess knew these individuals; he met them, lived with them, before the contemporary world had a chance to make so much difference. The first peoples in the stories are in their tribal state, infused with age-old traditions and behavioral norms, proud but fearful of the white colonialists. It wasn't so long ago – barely three generations. That closeness in time can be said to offer a benefit to the reader; to some extent it helps us understand better their descendants who are alive today and within our society's reach.<br />– Tony Grey, from his Introduction.
Sniping
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 really the same…<br /> <br />Idriess was a trooper with the Light Horse at Gallipoli, all the way to Beersheba, and his diary was published as <i>The Desert Column</i>. Drawing on his military experience, this is one of six manuals written for soldiers and civilians in 1942, when invasion by the Japanese seemed imminent.
Forty Fathoms Deep
(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 someone more persuasive than I will induce them to sit down and write, or, failing that, sit and talk for the enlightenment and entertainment of fellow Australians.<br /> <br />I am greatly indebted to numerous friends in Broome who have helped me with material and who went to such pains to get for me authentic data.<br /> <br />Hail and farewell, with a warm heart, to Con and old Sebaro, and to all the divers and tenders and seamen who were so patient at explaining the many things I desired to see and know.<br /> <br />To all, a fair wind and a hungry market when the fleets put to sea!<br /> <br />ION L. IDRIESS.
Flynn of the Inland
The extraordinary story of a classic Australian Pioneer – told by Australia's 'Boswell of the Bush', 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's outback, took a lifetime of courageous commitment to bring to reality.<br /> <br />'<i>It is impossible to read this book and remain untouched by the greatness of John Flynn's inspiration.</i>' – Morning Post, London<br /> <br />Ion L. Idriess celebrated Australia's exuberant history in over 50 books, written in an easy conversational style that has made him lastingly popular. In stories such as 'Flynn of the Inland', 'Back O' Cairns' and 'Lasseter's Last Ride', Idriess brings to life the wild beauty of the outback and the many colourful characters who people it.
Horrie the Wog-Dog
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 to tolerate Arabs – he suffered cold and sickness, he fell in love with Ishmi, he was bombed off his ship and he never once was found during all necessary cover-up travelling. A story for all dog lovers, in spite of heavy Australian slang and style, of a dinkum Aussie who was kept, protected and loved by dinkum Aussies. Sentimentality over canines seldom misses fire.' – Kirkus Review (USA)
Lasseter's Last Ride
(from The Spectator, May 1936)<br />In his introduction to Lasseter's Last Ride (Cape, 7s. 6d.) Field-Marshal Sir William Birdwood writes : "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."<br /> <br />The reader will agree with this, and wonder why he has not heard of Mr. Idriess before. He is well known in Australia, but this is his first book to be published in England. It will not be his last, if the present one meets with the success it deserves. Having himself been a prospector, the story he has constructed out of the fragments of documentary evidence – a few reports, the barely legible diary and letters found buried near Lasseter's last camps – is probably very close to what actually happened. Harry Lasseter had once discovered a rich gold reef in unexplored west Central Australia. Owing to a faulty watch, the bearings he took were useless. An expedition was fitted out to locate it. From the first, misfortune dogged the steps of the party. Food ran short and they returned to the base-camp – all except Lasseter, who went on alone. When his two camels bolted he was left waterless in the desert. Blinded by sand and tortured by dysentry, he found the reef, but died shortly afterwards, deserted by a tribe of aborigines with whom he had tried to make friends. Mr. Idriess tells this story in a simple, virile style which is, in its intense economy, comparable to Hemingway at his best.<br />
Nemarluk
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's fight.<br /> <br />Ion L. Idriess had already brought Lasseter and Flynn to the public's attention with his action-packed stories. He had first-hand knowledge of the courage of Nemarluk and wanted to immortalise the man he called the King of the Wilds.<br /> <br /><i>'Jack [Idriess] understood the depth of Nemarluk's hatred for the Japanese and the white intruders who had come, unasked, into his people's tribal lands of which he was chief. It was not only Nemarluk's desire to protect his people and their lands from the invaders, it was also his obligation and duty.'</i> – Beverley Eley, biographer of Ion L. [Jack] Idriess