Australia Day Books

I used this guide on a recent trip to Australia and found it to be an excellent companion. The illustrations are accurate and the text draws attention to the most important ID features. The maps seem to be well researched and accurate. Unlike most Field Guides this guide includes a handbook section which gives a potted biography, family by family of behaviour and ecology. This handbook section always provided some interesting extra detail of birds seen. In conlusion, a great field guide, well illustrated and researched.

I used two field guides on my trip to Australia last year. I primarily used the Simpson guide and occasionally referred to the Pizzey guide. I found the Simpson guide to be quite helpful, with excellent drawings, range maps that were placed alongside each species, and interesting ecological information about each ornithological order at the end of the book. My main criticisms of the Simpson guide are that I thought the Pizzey guide did a better job at depicting the subtle features that separate the honeyeater species, and the Simpson guide was too large to fit into a jacket or pants pocket. Despite these criticisms, I thought the Simpson guide was a very good birding field guide. I have a friend who will be traveling to Australia soon, and I will be buying the Simpson guide as a gift to her.

Thorough field guide, easy to use, compact and suitable size to truly call itself a field guide. Well illustrated.

This guide covers all the bird species known to occur in Australia - not an easy task in a continent with as rich an aviafauna.
I found it very good - the illustrations are excellent quality and often cover distinctive subspecies separately.
The maps, conveniently placed opposite the illustrations also show boundaries of the various subspecies' distribution - something few field guides seem to bother with!
All the essential information about appearence, size, voice and habitat is also found along with the maps right opposite the pictures.
These pages make up the bulk of the book, followed by a "Vagrant Bird Bulletin", breeding information, checklists for off-shore island territories and excellent lists of local oganisations and recommended further reading - complete with the competing field guides!
Once you remove the color cover, the book is bound in a sturdy but flexible plastic one - making it ideal for carrying in the field without getting it torn or soaked.
All in all, an excellent book that served me very well on my trip in Australia. Recommended.

This book was my constant companion for just under 3 weeks birding in Oz. It's a very nice book, but a field guide it is not. The huge size (about 6 x 9 inches) means it won't fit in any pocket, so I had to carry it in a backpack--hardly convenient for field use. I also looked at every other book on the market, at B&B's, bookstores, and wherever I went. All but two are much too large to be field guides, even though many are labeled as such. Of the two truly pocket-compatible books, one is clearly superior: Michael Morcombe's Field Guide to Australian Birds: Complete Compact Edition (not to be confused with his earlier, larger sized books). This one is about 4 x 9 in and the illustrations are annotated with labeled arrows to diagostic features of the birds. Alas, I found this book in a bookstore only on my last day in Australia after having searched intesively for it after first running across it in a B&B library. I bought it anyway, hoping some day to return to Oz.

This is a really good book for people who are into bird watching. I looked at several guides and I'm really glad that I got this one. The book is logically laid out and the colour plates are great. It is a bit big Aprox 16cm x 22cm but the way it is laid out justifies it. This is a great reference book that will give bird watches many years of enjoyment.

This book never left my side while I was in Oz, although at times I thought about leaving it behind. My biggest complaint would be size; this book is a bit too large to be a proper field guide. It is as thick as Nat'l Geo, but about an inch longer in width and height. The plates were more than adequate, however few birds were shown in juv. plumage. Good text descriptions, notes on behaviors, and birds in flight usually shown. Very Peterson-esque. Half of the book is a handbook at the back. Plenty of good life history info. on the birds, but not necessary in the field. If only the handbook came as a seperate supplement . . .

One last note: I did not see another book either in stores or in another birder's hand while in Australia that I thought was as good or better than this guide.

This book has been torn to pieces by every academic I have ever read. This book exploits women who experience FGM and portrays them as barbaric torturers or, alternatively, as pathetic, victims. There is no reason to encourage Westerners to view FGM as a disgusting, foreign practice. This work of fiction only encourages the belittling of African women and the continued mis-understanding of FGM, which varies, family to family, culture to culture over a huge area. Women in the developing world face many challenges. FGM is only one facing fewer than half of African women. FGM is a human rights abuse. It is dangerous and abusive in any form and leads to many deaths every year. There are far better ways to fight injustice than to exploit those who suffer from it.

Female Genital Mutilation.

Even the term is terrifying to the ears of western women. And in the stunning and controversial book The Day Kadi Lost a Part of Her Life, Kim Manresa, who won several awards for this book including the Silver Medal for Photojournalism, the Visa d'Or for L'Image del Festival International du Photojournalisme in Perpignan and the Human Rights Award for the International Week of Photojournalism and Isabel Ramos Rioja fully and explictly document not only the historicity of the process, but actual visual representation of it.

I first became aware of FGM back in the nineties when one of my favourite musicians, Johnette Napolitano, wrote a song covering it (which I also highly recommend, but that perhaps for another article). After researching it, I was horrified to discover that this was a common practice in several countries around the world and embarked to become as involved as possible in educating others in order to eventually bring it to late in hopes of eradicating it entirely.

Some background: Every year, over two million girls and women undergo FGM. The practice, which removes all or part of the female genitalita by generally one of three procedures:

Clitoridectomy, amputation of sections of, or all of the clitoris;

Excision, amputation of the clitoris and the labia minora;

Infibulation, also known as pharonic circumcision, is the most drastic form of FGM practiced, which includes excision and further cuts being made to the labia majora to cause raw surfaces which are then sewn or clipped together to cause the two flaps to join allowing only a small opening for the purposes of urination, menstruation and intercourse.


It is practiced in over 28 African nations and reported among Muslim populations in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malayasia, although there are no absolute figures as to how widespread it is within those countries. It is performed without benefit of anesthetic or medical tools, is a tradition that spans centuries and predates both Islam and Christianity. It is important to note that the majority of Muslims as well as Christians are vehemently opposed to FGM.

The prologue, penned by Olayinka Koso-Thomas's, details that it is "typical of every little girl who lives in a community where to be loved, married, and held in high esteem requires you to be genitally mutilated. Failure to undergo the operation leads to harassment, ridicule, abuse, trauma, and eventual ostracism from one's community".

When I first picked up this book, there was nothing in the cover that would indicate the horror that lay within. It begins with photographs. of Kadi, showing her as a beautiful, smiling four year old girl awaiting her `initiation'. The reader is drawn in as the tale becomes devastatingly clear - one woman holding her down while the other slices away at her genitalia. Each picture tells its own story, unfolding into a horrific event that will leave the reader disturbed for longer than it takes to read the book.

Much, much longer. Even now writing this, I cannot shake the violence of the assault on my own feminine sensibilities. I defy even one woman to view this book and not become infuriated by the last page. And I think that was exactly the point of Mancesa - to show, rather than tell. Pictures in this case being more than anything words can ever tell. The choice of black and white pictures as opposed to color do nothing to lessen the impact of horror upon the reader.

I recommend this book, not for its somewhat exploitative nature - I have to imagine Kim Manresa possesses a heart of stone to have been able to stand still to photograph these scenes - but for the very shaking and horrific images that it unseats within the viewer. I think after everything I have reads regarding FGM - this book alone was what really brought it home. The last image of the book, with Kadi standing alone in a hut where she is not allowed to cry or weep, and where she must stay until her wounds are healed, may be even the most disturbing image of all.

The book is published by Spinifex Press, with part of the proceeds dedicated to the London based non-government organisation FORWARD (the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development) who work internationally for the elimination of female genital mutilation worldwide.

A final note: one review on Amazon.ca notes this book as 'A must for every coffee table". I wouldn't go that far - this is not something you would ever want anyone (let alone a child) to stumble upon. But as far as bringing a horrific vision to life in a way that only pictures ever can, this book will singularly change your perspective on the horror that FGM is, if not your life.

A must for every coffee table ...

I checked this book out from the library, and even though I knew that it was about female circumcision, otherwise known as F.G.M. or female genital mutilation, I had NO idea how graphic this book really was!

This book, "The Day Kadi Lost Part of Her Life", by Kim Manresa, is a horrifying photo book detailing the day when a young girl in a sub-Sahara region of Africa, is circumcised in the most unsanitary, unhygienic, unsterile, and torturous way possible.

It is heart-wrenching to know that in the 21st Century, this kind of cruelty is going on, every single day to babies, and little kids all over the globe, but particularly in Africa, and the Middle East. It's so easy for those living in America & protected from awful kinds of tortures like this to ignore the suffering of less fortunate people on the other side of the world.

But a book like this certainly opens your eyes to just how fortunate we all are to be living in a free society like the United States. Women, especially, should thank their lucky stars that we are not born in countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, the Sudan, Togo, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, and other countries.

This book is extremely disturbing, showing in pictures from start to finish, a young girl named Kadi, having her genitals mutilated, without anesthesia, or even any sterile equipment, and then not even being allowed to cry, forced to keep silent by the evil monster who had just finished torturing her. It was just sickening!

My heart was ACHING just looking at this book. It hurt so bad, that I wanted to just reach through the pages before poor Kadi was circumcised (tortured and mutilated), pull her out of the book, and bring her to live under protection in the United States.

Alas, that is not possible, and day after day this horror goes on and on, despite being outlawed in many countries. There has to be some way to help end this barbaric and cruel practice. F.G.M is WRONG, and it has NO religious basis. Like "honor killing", and the veiling and seclusion of women, it is not sanctioned by ANY religion, Islam or otherwise.

This book is VERY well done, but as I have said before, it is EXTREMELY graphic! It is very disturbing, and it took me several hours of TV to get this book's awful photos, out of my head. Even to this day, I still have this terrible knot in the pit of my stomach, from the pictures fleeting through my mind.

But if there is one thing that this book has done, it has made me grateful every single day that I am an American citizen (albeit an Indian-American) and that I was born and raised in the United States.

It has also made me want to join in the effort to help do whatever it takes to eradicate this cruel and barbaric practice forever.

The media needs to shed more light on this torture that little girls and women are subjected to on a daily basis. This country and other developed nations need to band together to put an end to this ancient and brutal tradition.

This book was so sad and so shocking. But a must read. If enough people would get involved maybe this horrible practice would be stopped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cried through most of the book . I'm so angry that Africa, and a few other countries will cut all the babies genitals off . They do this as early as age 1 year old. This woman's story tells oh how at age 6 , she her 3 yea old sister and 1 year old were all deprived on their vaginal parts..together, all in same day. They use knives, scissors, dirty filthy tools used over and over till completely dull. Some even use their teeth!
This is a much needed book to read.

The title of the 4th Claudia Valentine mystery does a good job of describing a large part of the plot. The Disappearances of Madalena Grimaldi finds Claudia hard at work on a missing person case during one of Sydney's hottest and most brutal summers in living memory. Claudia Valentine is a private investigator living and working in Sydney, Australia. She's tough, quick-witted and independent and has been a very enjoyable protagonist to get to know over the previous 3 books.

The person Claudia is hired to find is a 15 year old schoolgirl named Madalena Grimaldi who, it appears, has run away from home after a disagreement with her father. Not as straightforward as it first sounds, she was staying with some friends in a share house for a while before she disappeared a second time. It's the second disappearance that is cause for concern. Who is she hiding from? What made her run again? Where would she hide? Or was there an even more sinister reason for her to vanish?

From Lugarno in Sydney's south all the way in to Kings Cross in the dingy heart of the city and even under Sydney's streets, Claudia covers an awful lot of territory in her search for Madalena. But she finds her focus distracted by some unexpected news.

The subplot that runs parallel to the main case is an issue that has been present on the periphery of Claudia's thoughts through each of the previous 3 books. The question of what became of her father after he walked out on her and her mother when Claudia was 5 years old has been constantly nagging at her. By all reports he had become one of Sydney's many homeless deros living rough on the streets. Finally, it looks as though she may have a chance at finding out what really became of him.

Set during the Sydney bushfires of January 1994, Marele Day uses the backdrop of a hot, dry city constantly shrouded in smoke and ringed by bushfires to help create the atmosphere of a grim, desolate landscape in which Claudia had to work. Her feelings of desperation during both her personal and professional searches confirm this background very effectively.

Consequently, compared to the earlier books in the series, the mood here is a little more subdued. I had the impression that Claudia was playing for higher stakes, particularly seeing as one half of her investigation was very personal for her. There are still traces of the wry humour that endeared us to her in the earlier books, it's just tinged with a more sober realisation that failure will have a profound emotional effect on her. Through her desperate search we get an even more complete picture of Claudia Valentine, revealing her weaknesses and fears whereas in the past we only really ever encountered her strengths.

This is a typical private investigator story with the usual methods of scouring the streets for clues, discreet surveillance jobs and the over-consumption of alcohol by the protagonist taking place. But then a plunge into some of Sydney's more unsavoury sections plus a flirt with organised crime completes an emotional finale to the book.

This book was required for my Literature class and I was pleasantly suprised. I was initially expecting something boring, that would be painful to study, but it was actually a very good and interesting read. Being from Australia myself some of the colloqiualisms were very great, yet could be missed by someone who does not understand the Australian culture. The storyline was great and the characters were very realistic and the imagery used was also very accurate of the places described. The use of stylistic devices was subtle and created a great feeling in the novel. Claudia Valentine wasn't your avergae female P.I., but a standout amongst the best. She used her wits and great abilities to solve her cases, one very dear to her heart. The Disappearances of Madalena Grimaldi was a great novel and I would reccommend this for anyone who wants to be intelligently entertained. Great work by Marele Day.

This is an excellent Australian crime novel.

The sub-plot concerning Claudia's search for her father is compelling and poignant and, to me, far more interesting that the search for the missing girl, Madalena Grimaldi.

This book serves to effectively de-romanticise Sydney with its depictions of the demeaning squalor and degradation faced by the homeless in that city.

Marele Day starts off with great intentions - then the story goes flat and dies. She tries to emulate Patricia Cornwell poorly

Set in Sydney, Australia, it is an excellent novel for those who know Sydney. Ms Day gives a fabulous story which, unfortunately, falls a little bit flat at the last pages. Still, an excellent read which I recommend to those with time to spare.

Congratulations, Mr Carey, on producing the only boring book on Sydney I have ever read. The stories you relate are, apart from the climbers dying in the Blue Mountains, mainly boring. You do not capture, in my opinion, the essence of Sydney. Your book is essentially about a group of your closest friends, who, frankly, could be living in any city in the world. I am not interested in what your mate thinks of Parramatta bleedin road? It may have had some historical significance in the 19th Century, but its just a road now, which leads through some pretty decrepit suburbs. I expected some really penetrating anecdotes about Sydney and Sydneysiders (I was one of them, having grown up on the North Shore). As for your politics - why oh why oh why do you liberals think that ordinary folk in the street should apologise for atrocities committed against the Aborigines? You are just another one of the `sorry' brigade, which gets a kick out of seeing young white children paint the word `sorry' on their foreheads. Disgusting. Mr Carey (and please stay in New York), there is no such thing as Inherited Guilt. You should never apologise, or force other people to apologise, for something you haven't done. If you want Inherited Guilt then I suggest you go live in North Korea.

I will, however, give you plaudits for reciting the story of Mr Eternity. But Mr Eternity was a quintessentially Australian character, Mr Carey; you are not.

Enjoy the Big Apple!

Any attempt to girdle a city within literature is doomed by the complexity and expanse of the topic. Carey delays this admission until the end, although by then his feelings are clear. Living and writing in New York City, only a deep inland residence could give him greater setting for contrast. His comparison with his current home is limited to the cramped quarters he endures there. Yet this limited contrast imparts the theme and import of this personal summary. Little of this book is about Australia's key city. Instead, the majority of Carey's essays here describe the Harbour, the Blue Mountains, the Pacific Coast, the Bridge and rivers. The characters are a melange of his personal friends and historical figures. There is a mystical episode on the Harbour Bridge and a passing critique of the CBD [Central Business District] and the values of those working there. The theme remains that the City is but one location in a region of contrasts. No other city is placed so uniquely. Perhaps no-one is better suited to attempt this unique task.

Many cities rejoice in their history, but in this, too, Sydney is special. Founded as a convict colony, it grew into a major Pacific port. Survival was a struggle with poor soil, vagaries of rain and wind and the presence of the Aborigine population - issues that urbanisation hides but cannot eliminate. Sensing its importance early, Sydney girted the Harbour with forts, something Carey lightly applauds when old forts become new parks. Carey conveys the sense of struggle, but time has transformed equal starving of convicts and guards to ideals of social equality - so long as that society is white, he reminds us. His "distorted view" imparts his dissenting view on relations with displaced Aborigines, among other topics.

However booksellers classify this work, it's not a travel advisory. Tourists will be unlikely to join the Sydney to Hobart race. Even more unlikely when they read Carey's account of the disaster of 1998. Nor will the casual visitor find themselves in a capsized racing skiff in the teeth of ten metre waves and forty knot winds. If you do visit, be careful hiking in mountains. If your visit occurs in the Southern Hemispheric summer, be extra cautious with matches or campfires. What can happen if you aren't Carey imparts with stunning clarity. Having lost his own house to fire, a telephone dialogue with a friend fighting to save one is a gripping read.

Carey's many awards are well deserved. His descriptive writing skills and characterisation are well demonstrated in this book. It's no matter if these are real people, mixtures of many into one or wholly invented. Their own stories are from real life and deserve attention. Carey snags your attention from the first page and you give it willingly to the rest of the book. An essay string that may be enjoyed by anyone, this book provides entertainment, education and excitement. Try it and see. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Peter Carey spent 30 days in Sydney in 2000 and we readers are the lucky recipients of his account. He clearly loves Sydney and demonstrates this love in every page of this little volume. His love is contagious. For example, on viewing what he calls "the great Pacific Ocean," he writes: "It is one of a hundred places you will find in Sydney which take your breath away, and I, familiar but disoriented, was in a state of constant amazement that any metropolis could be so blesssed." He also obviously cares deeply for his friends who still live there. About his friend Jack Ledoux he says: "I have lived in more than one house Jack has designed and would be a happy man if I could wake up in one tomorrow morning and live in it all my life. Every time I walk into one of his constructions, it makes me happy." What an extraordinary way to describe a friend!

Mr. Carey sets out to describe this great city in terms of earth, air, fire and water. He does this by having several zany friends of his-- some of them friends of thirty years-- tell their stories. Any one of these characters ought to be found in a novel, at least one of Mr. Carey's. In his hands they become flesh and blood and as interesting as the city they describe. Good stuff jumps out on every page. Mr. Carey admits that he cannot drive over Sydney's famous bridge without having a panic attack, a fact that is particularly significant to me since I suffer from the same problem with high bridges. Then there is the delicious account of the word "Eternity" and the little man responsible for writing the word everywhere or anywhere he felt his God called him to write it. Carey's handling of the "Aborigine problem" is particularly poignant in his discussion of Vicki, who was taken from her parents and raised by a white family.

Carey, now living in New York, did not move to Sydney, the city his mother said was just like Liberace, until he was almost forty-- ". . . even then I carried in my baggage a typical Melbournian distrust of that vulgar crooked convict town." I for one would love to see him write similar books about both Melbourne and New York.

So much good writing-- so many marvelous stories in 248 pages. A great read!

This is a good read for Aussie expats, not least because the author is one of Australiaýs more prominent contemporary literary figures, staging a return visit to Sydney from his current home in New York. Aussies living in America will probably be tuned into the way observations of one country are used to shed light on the other, the extra explanations he is obliged to include for either culture, as well was the exercise of reacquainting oneself with oneýs place of origin and trying to come to grips with its history and character. On occasion the authorýs own brand of cronyism (men relive their exploits or otherwise act out their mid life crises) is a bit irksome, but then he is well aware of such potential gripes and fends them off within the book (ýMate, youýre making a big mistake talking to all these men. Youýre ignoring the womenýý). In all, he spins a good yarn, and the final pages will have you heaving on the open seas at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.

I have been very fortunate. I have had the oportunity to visit Hawai'i three times: The Big Island once, and Maui twice. I used a prevoius edition of this Frommer's Guide for a lot of my planning.

I like the listings of inexpensive hotels, B&B's, restaurants and activities in the book. Inexpensive does not mean poor quality. I have never been disappointed when following the advice in the Guide. I also enjoy the recommendations and maps included.

I find the Frommer's Guides to be very helpful, and have used other Frommer's Guides for trip planning: The Canadian Rockies, New Mexico, Yellowstone National Park, Florida for $ a Day, and San Francisco to name a few. They are a good starting point for planning a vacation.

Overall a pretty good guide to the islands. However, I did have a few complaints:
Some of the places off the beaten path were not well described in terms of directions (and if not for helpful locals, I never would have reached them)
Restaurant data was often out of date (restaurant closed or completely redone), and poorer restaurants were sometimes recommended while the better ones were left off.
I was able to find a lot of better deals (or found out after the fact about better deals available) than listed in the book.
If you know nothing about Hawaii, it's a good bood to have. I will look for a different guide for my next trip.

If you buy this guide, don't bother buying Frommer's Hawaii 2006. Most of it is word for word.

On my trips to the Islands, I've found this book to be an excellent source of hotel, B&B, and restaurant recommendations. It is not the best overall guide, but it IS the best source of info for the above items. I've found that by taking this book along with the Lonely Planet (which is the best overall guide but is weak on lodging & restaurants) I have all the info I need to plan & enjoy my vacations to Hawaii.

I've used this book for travel to Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island, and have never found any of the reviews to be far off base. Highly recommended!

First off, it is important to note that you can find new copies of this book from various Internet sites for much less than the $38 used price. Look around and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I initially picked up this book on the advice of a friend. We're both heavily involved in search and rescue and we're one of a small group of people working on international search and rescue response capabilities.

Nepal particularly appealed to my friend for spiritual and travel purposes, and he found kindred spirits over there. He also found this book, and immediately sent it on to me.

Simply as a book about one person's adventures trapped in an extremely difficult situation, it's good. But it covers so much more - culture, search and rescue, spirituality, family ties, the changes that all of the participants go through.

I've been involved in several search and rescue missions in similarly difficult situations and this book accurately represents how they play out.

A must read, from my point of view.

-David

Upon lying at home, bored out of my wits, i picked up a book that had been laying on my dresser for as long as i could remember. I had no idea the profound change it would bring about in me...

This book was amazing. I found the entries by James and his sister insightful and realistic. I loved the fact that there was a total honesty about the way they told the story, which propels you to learn more. There was never a time when i felt that i was not a part of the story, i felt as if i was suffering along with the Ryans and the Scotts'. A lovely read!

It has trully inspired me. i would like to know it Andrew converted to Buddism, as the Lama predicted exactly where James was.

First off, it is important to note that you can find new copies of this book from various Internet sites for much less than the $38 used price. Look around and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I initially picked up this book on the advice of a friend. We're both heavily involved in search and rescue and we're one of a small group of people working on international search and rescue response capabilities.

Nepal particularly appealed to my friend for spiritual and travel purposes, and he found kindred spirits over there. He also found this book, and immediately sent it on to me.

Simply as a book about one person's adventures trapped in an extremely difficult situation, it's good. But it covers so much more - culture, search and rescue, spirituality, family ties, the changes that all of the participants go through.

I've been involved in several search and rescue missions in similarly difficult situations and this book accurately represents how they play out.

A must read, from my point of view.

-David

I find it interesting that nobody has posted a review of this book. Perhaps they finish the book and immediatly leave for the South Pacific, they are all nibbling on lobster somewhere in the Marquesas, waiting for global warming to wash them to higher ground. Well, the South Pacific certainly conjurs up a picture in most minds of palm trees, scantily clad natives and warm tropical breezes. These stories will enforce some of these beliefs and dispel some of the others. Paradise is fairly elusive and the lack of civilization that is much of the draw of paradise can turn around and bite you in the posterior.

I admit that I hand picked the stories initially reading some of my favorite island commentators, so I started with Laurence Shames, Thurston Clarke, Eugene Burdick, J. Maarten Troost and P.F Kluge. My favorite story was Eugene Burdick's "The Black & The White" an engaging tale of lessons learned in paradise. I will reveal nothing of the story, but it is a surprising tale from a different perspective.

All in all the book relies on Islands magazine for a lot of the stories, so if you are a long time reader of the magazine, you will have read the majority of the stories. The stories are engaging and well constructed, hopefully your interest will be aroused and you will further investigate the region. The South Pacific is a wonderful place, much of it has changed very little in the last fifty years. My hope as a travelwriter that covers this region, is that the stories work as kindling, wetting your appetite to read more and eventually visit the region.

A large size and scale reference work about the avian life of our country. It does also include a section about the blow-ins and transients that appear from time to time, so that is helpful. Broken down by family, this reference book is an excellent guide, and has worked for me many times. Well worth it.

By today most British Commonwealth leaders in 1941 have had their history rewritten to fit into a more political desirable form. As such we are given very little about the conflicts and doubts that must have gone though their minds at this time when it looked like Hitler had won.

Two great leaders Churchill and Menzies in the British conflict appear to have come into conflict over the conduct of the war. To Churchill, WW2 became a crusade that he was willing to give all, in an attempt to defeat Hitler. To Menzies the British empire was both incompetently being led by Churchill which as the book shows is probably correct in the gross failure of the British handling of the war in Greece and getting involved in a conflict that it could not win. He felt that the British Commonwealth should make terms with Hitler.

In an attempt to replace Churchill, Menzies lost his position as prime minister of Australia.

Mixed in with their respective egos and ambitions it makes fascinating reading.