This book is a classic narrative of modern exploration; a story of adventure, enterprise and patient scientific exploration, illustrated by photographs taken on the expedition. The Simpson is a sand-ridge desert extending 200 miles (322 km) west to east, the ridges running parallel from north to south at roughly quarter-mile (0.4 km) intervals, some reaching as high as 100 feet (30 m). Madigan planned a ground crossing in the winter of 1939. A party of nine, including a biologist, a botanist, a photographer and a radio operator, with nineteen camels, made the exhausting crossing from Andado station in the Northern Territory to Birdsville in twenty-five days. It verified Madigan's previous conclusions that the area was a wasteland. This last classic Australian exploration adventure pioneered the use of mobile radio communication; national broadcasts were made through the Australian Broadcasting Commission from desert camps. The scientific results were published and also a popular accound, Crossing the Dead Heart (Melbourne, 1946). He saw the 'Dead Heart' as a land of everlasting sand-ridges and salt-encrusted clay-pans; while his conclusions seemed correct then, within twenty years the area was criss-crossed by petroleum explorers. - Australian Dictionary of Biography

Narrative of Simpson Desert Expedition 1939; p.28-29; Cooking fish & duck; hunting & returning boomerangs; p.33; Stone arrangement at edge of Finke tableland near Andado Stn.; p.37; 2 place names near Andado; remains of Dieri tribe moved to Marree; p.39; Place names around Andado; p.64; Chalcedony chips, parts of grinding stones found; p.111; Ill-treatment of natives of waterhole; Andy accompanied the expedition p. 27, photo p. 74; Ly-Ly showed the party where a soak was p. 37 and later joined them for part of the journey p. 42-49.

The body of a man with a crushed skull is found in outback Australia. Discovered hidden nearby is a letter containing cryptic clues to the location of a massive gold find in the unchartered Dead Heart of Australia. Greedy rumours fly, when a wife arrives to collect her dead husbands belongings. Not only is the not-entirely-bereaved widow out for a take, but also local authorities find themselves overrun by those willing to kill for a chance to find the gold. Speaking of killing, who bashed in the victims skull? Obese Sergeant Gillings is on the case with the help of his officers and trackers. The roguish Bob and his lover, Chaenee, are on the hunt as well. Australian Aborigines in the Dead Heart are on a rampage because strangers enter their forbidden territory. These gold-hungry adventurers have to fight each other, wild natives, and the unforgiving terrain itself on the perilous path to striking it rich.

The Death of the Heart is perhaps Elizabeth Bowen's best-known book. As she deftly and delicately exposes the cruelty that lurks behind the polished surfaces of conventional society, Bowen reveals herself as a masterful novelist who combines a sense of humor with a devastating gift for divining human motivations. In this piercing story of innocence betrayed set in the thirties, the orphaned Portia is stranded in the sophisticated and politely treacherous world of her wealthy half-brother's home in London.There she encounters the attractive, carefree cad Eddie. To him, Portia is at once child and woman, and her fears her gushing love. To her, Eddie is the only reason to be alive. But when Eddie follows Portia to a sea-side resort, the flash of a cigarette lighter in a darkened cinema illuminates a stunning romantic betrayal--and sets in motion one of the most moving and desperate flights of the heart in modern literature.

Between 1870 and 1920 as many as 2000 cameleers and 20,000 camels arrived in Australia from Afghanistan and northern India. Australia's Muslim Cameleers is a rich pictorial history of these men, their way of life and the vital role they played in pioneering transport and communication routes across outback Australia's vast expanses. Many of the images and artefacts in this fascinating account are published here for the first time, and this new edition contains additions to the biographical listing of more than 1200 cameleers.