Jonathan Guiness & Catherine Guiness, The House of Mitford, 2004 (1984), London, Phoenix. 

Exceptional story of the Mitford family in England in C19th-C20th published in 1984.  David Freeman-Mitford, second Lord Redesdale, had seven children by his wife Sydney. They were christened Nancy, Pamela, Thomas , Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah. The children grew up with a great deal of freedom and one way or another and became relatively well known for their talents and behaviour, especially the youngest children as they grew older. The television version is impressive but the book is also a good read with some events quite surprising. 

Greg Sheridan: How Christians Can Succeed Today: Reclaiming the Genius of the Early Church. Sydney, Allen & Unwin,2025.  Greg Sheridan has written three outstanding books about the Christian faith. This narrative focuses on two main approaches, the life of the early Christian church, and secondly the activities and adventures of a number of Christian individuals today. Sheridan writes about the early church with clarity, care and honesty and manages to cover the major Christian leaders of the early church.  The second half delivers equally interesting stories of individuals, families and leaders who have made quite outstanding contributions to Christian life in the current world situation.  Well worth a look!

Mick Coliss: Australia’s Toughest Sportspeople. 2011, Affirm Press, South Melbourne.

Mick Coliss has written a fairly gruesome story about the injuries and troubles that occur when folk go out to practise their abilities at the hightest level especially in Australia where they are often prepared to suffer real damage to maintain their team’s requirements. I found these stories impressive but I have no wish to re-read their dramas. 

Robert Boardman: A Higher Honour. 1986,Colarado, Navpress. 

Robert  (Bob) Boardman survived the second world war (just…his tank was destroyed by enemy fire during a battle on the island of Okinawa. ) Shot in the neck by a Japanese sniper he was drowning in his own blood when he was rescued by colleagues. After the war Boardman became involved with The Navigators, a world wide Christian organisation. Boardman was sent as a Navigator missionary for twelve months in Japan in 1951 and later served there full time in Japan as Director of the Navigator ministry in Japan from 1956 to 1985. 

Boardman’s story is filled with amazing stories of Japan itself as well as encouraged many individuals in Japan to become committed Christians. His book contains many exceptional stories, some humorous, some challenging, and many helping readers to understand Japanese society after World War 2 including significant numbers of people who found a life of Christian faith in Japan. 

Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers, p/b, Penguin Books, 1987 (1983)

Australian story of surf and surfing based on three generations of the Lang family. I did not enjoy the authentic language in this narrative whilst accepting the authenticity of the story and the language. It is a narrative which would be familiar to many thousands of Australian young people who grew up not far from a good surfing beach. In many ways it is a way of life for a large number of Australian males and increasingly of female Australian surfers. 

Murray Bail: Eucalyptus, p/b, Melbourne, Text Publishing.

Outstanding story of the history and character of the Australian Eucalyptus in all its amazing variety and indeed power. A Miles Franklin Award winner it is helped by a thoughtful love story. An outstanding Australian read.

Jon Krakauer: Into The Wild, Pan Books, New York, 1998

Sad narrative of a young American graduate who left a very unhappy home to make his way hitchhiking around large parts of the USA and Mexico. Krakauer had a strong desire to launch himself into the Alaskan wilderness.  He had set himself up with good equipment and achieved his goal living and hunting in Alaska for over sixty days.  Coming to a decision to finally return home he had not made allowance for the Winter power of the Teklanika River which he had originally crossed easily in mid-summer. After twice failing and nearly drowning he returned to his cabin but gradually weakened and died in the grim environment. A powerful story with a difficult to read ending.

Brian Murdoch: Sparks of Life: The Novels of Erich Maria Remarque, p/b, Camden House, New York, 2010 (2006).

German writer Erich Maria Remarque is well known for his major work All Quiet on the Western Front, but less known for his other novels. Brian Murdoch has produced an excellent detailed summary of Remarque’s  major other works including From the Frog’s Perspective, Rootless in Weimar, The First Europeans, Shadows, Educating Germany, and The Lap of the Gods. Murdoch has written detailed summaries of all six of his novels, writing for his readers in both English and German. This is a major and very detailed account of Remarque’s novels.