2GB: Alan Jones Recommends …

Janise Beaumont on "NEVER ARGUE WITH A MUG. THE DON LANE STORY"

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:31:53 +1000

Australian Television turned 50 years in 2006 and for three of those decades, a lanky yank from New York became one of the most sucessful and best loved stars of the small screen. Don Lane was a television superstar. Regarded as one of the nice guys of showbusiness, there is another side of Don Lane that, until now, has been kept somewhat quiet. Journalist Janise Beaumont has recently finished writing "Never Argue with a Mug. The Don Lane Story" with the man himself. It's a revealing insight into the man who spent time in prison, the US military, the showrooms of Las Vegas, the divorce courts of course and many, many years in our loungerooms.

BEANS GALIPOLI by Kevin Fewster

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:13:00 +1000

The insights are truthful, harrowing and shocking, for this Gallipoli is not the drama seen through the military censorship of journalistic despatches, but the views of a thoughtful man communicating with himself.' - The BulletinProbably no person saw more of the Anzacs in battle on Gallipoli than C.E.W. Bean. After sailing with the first convoy, he landed with them on that fateful first morning of 25 April, and remained on Gallipoli until the evacuation despite being wounded.He was unique among the war correspondents of his day: no place in the line was too dangerous for him. No other pressman dared to go ashore at the first landings. Throughout the fiercest battles, he would sit in the dust or mud of the frontline trench taking notes or making sketches.Night after night he sat in his tiny dugout and wrote in his diary all that he had seen and done. Its pages flow with powerful descriptions of battle, touching eulogies to the common soldier, and scathing criticisms of senior officers whose mistakes cost men their lives. He took over 1100 remarkable photographs with the diary they constitute the most graphic personal account we have of the events of Gallipoli.Bean's Gallipoli reveals the innermost thoughts, hopes and criticisms of the man who, more than any other, shaped the Anzac legend. This is a new edition of Frontline Gallipoli. It contains new extracts from Bean's diaries, new commentary by Kevin Fewster, and over 80 photographs, most of which were taken by Bean at Gallipoli.

NINE SUMMERS by Rina Huber

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:10:12 +1000

When surgeon Felix Huber was diagnosed with a rare cancer at age 60, he and his wife, Rina, had a choice: draw inwards and eke out whatever time he might have left, or gamble on the future and live out their long-held fantasy of sailing the Mediterranean. They had nine glorious summers of adventuring together, sailing from port to port around France, Italy, Greece and more offbeat destinations on their yacht. This is their heart-warming story.

SICK TO DEATH by Thomas Hedley

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:09:10 +1000

An explosive account of Dr Jayant Patel's gross medical negligence and his legacy of lost lives, infection and mutilation. His reign of terror at Bundaberg Base Hospital lasted over two years, till his atrocities were exposed.

WRITING FAMILY HISTORY MADE VERY EASY by Noeline Kyle

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:07:56 +1000

Researching family trees and genealogies has never been so popular but the problem has always been that while family historians are enthusiastic and skilled researchers, they are are often defeated by the task of writing their family history. This book is a practical step by step guide, invaluable to anyone who has researched.

SILENT FOOTSTEPS by Sally Henderson

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:06:11 +1000

When an elephant saved Sally Henderson's life in Botswana, it was to change her irrevocably. A passion to conserve this majestic species was ignited, and in 1990 she left Australia to join an elephant research project in the wilds of Zimbabwe. What follows is a remarkable journey into the world of Africa's elephants, and a deeply personal memoir of one woman's awakening and the choices she makes to follow her calling. Sally paints a rare and unforgettable portrait of a Herd and its matriarchs, and the perils they face in an unforgiving landscape further torn apart by civil strife. But it is the daily pleasures of being in their mighty presence that gives her story its countless wonders. Beautifully written, Silent Footsteps is a love letter to the spirit of Africa and a jubilant portrayal of the lives of elephants.

EXILE by Richard North Patterson

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:00:05 +1100

David Wolfe is an ambitious former homicide prosecutor who is planning to run for Congress. A political dinner for the Israeli Prime Minister is hosted by his current girlfriend, Carole Shorr, a liberal supporter of both the Palestinian and Israeli causes. But when David receives a call from Hana Ashawi, a Palestinian woman who was David's classmate at Harvard Law School, he is rattled. Hana was more than a peer – she was his lover.Suddenly David finds himself in a situation with enormous global and political implications as well as emotional ones. A new pact between the rival factions in Palestine is planned, and David and Carole decide to watch the historic moment when the parties will all meet. It turns out to be an occasion of desperate, tragic and far-reaching consequences...

My Family Is All I Have: A British Woman's Story of Escaping the Nazis and Surviving the Communists (Paperback) by Helen Alice Dear

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:59:22 +1100

Helen-Alice Dear was only fifteen when she left London to visit Bulgaria on a family holiday in 1937. Just weeks after her arrival, she found herself unable to leave and struggling to survive in an increasingly hostile and terrifying environment. Her marriage to a Bulgarian man bore her four children but they were often homeless, cold and hungry. Despite these hardships, Helen refused to give up hope and bravely managed to protect and raise her family. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Helen was finally able to fulfil her dream of returning to her homeland. Her beautifully written memoir is a heart-wrenching tale of courage and resilience, proving just how indomitable the human spirit can be.

True Green - 100 Everyday Ways You can Contribute to a Healthier Planet by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonin

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:59:16 +1100

You can save the world! Global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change … often the magnitude of the environmental challenges we face can leave us feeling powerless – but we’re not. In ‘True Green’, Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin, part of the Clean Up Australia team, suggest 100 small ways in which you can make a big difference, at home, in the garden, at work, while travelling or in your community.
• Put on a jumper instead of the heater – and lower carbon emissions
• Switch off electrical appliances at the power point – and lower your energy consumption (and bills!)
• Say no to plastic bags – and reduce waste
• Take shorter showers – and save water
• Walk or cycle to your local shops – and reduce pollution
Practical, positive and easy to use, this essential reference shows how making simple changes in your everyday life that can contribute to a healthier planet. Don’t be true blue – be true green.

The Last King of Scotland (Paperback) by Giles Foden

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:29:33 +1100

No, we're not talking Bonnie Prince Charlie here. The title character of Giles Foden's debut novel, The Last King of Scotland, is none other than Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda. Told from the viewpoint of Nicholas Garrigan, Amin's fictional personal physician, the novel chronicles the hell that was Uganda in the 1970s. Garrigan, the only son of a Scots Presbyterian minister, finds himself far away from home when he accepts a post with the Ministry of Health in Uganda. His arrival in Kampala coincides with the coup that leads to President Obote's overthrow and Idi Amin Dada's ascendancy to power. Garrigan spends only a few days in the capital city, however, before heading out to his assignment in the bush. But a freak traffic accident involving Amin's sports car and a cow eventually brings the good doctor into the dictator's orbit; a few months later, Garrigan is recalled from his rural hospital and named personal physician to the president. Soon enough, Garrigan finds himself caught between his duty to his patient and growing pressure from his own government to help them control Amin. From Nicholas Garrigan's catbird seat, Foden guides us through the horrors of Amin's Uganda. It would be simple enough make the dictator merely monstrous, but Foden defies expectation, rendering him appealing even as he terrifies.

Beatrix Potter: A Journal by Beatrix Potter

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:32:32 +1100

This lavish, illustrated journal describes Beatrix Potter's life as a young woman in Victorian Britain as she struggles to achieve independence and to find artistic success and romantic love. Using witty, observant commentary taken from Beatrix' s own diaries, the journal moves from London to Scotland to the Lake District, and features a wealth of watercolour paintings, sketches, photographs, letters, paper-engineered items and period memorabilia to recreate a world where nature and imagination are brilliantly combined.

Infidel

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:13:30 +1100

Readers with an eye on European politics will recognize Ali as the Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim women with controversial director Theo van Gogh (who was himself assassinated). Even before then, her attacks on Islamic culture as "brutal, bigoted, [and] fixated on controlling women" had generated much controversy. In this suspenseful account of her life and her internal struggle with her Muslim faith, she discusses how these views were shaped by her experiences amid the political chaos of Somalia and other African nations, where she was subjected to genital mutilation and later forced into an unwanted marriage.

Dumbing Down

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:22:06 +1100

Dumbing Down exposes the damage the culture wars have brought and how we've bred a generation of under-educated Australians. Renowned education expert Donnelly gets to the heart of the problem, debunking the current culture of narcissism and demonstrating the perils of non-competitive assessment and the current anti-academic approaoch to the curriculum. He provides an alternative, a blueprint for the future: a system based on a liberal/humanist approach, one where the focus is on learning in a balanced and impartial way and where students are taught to think independently.

For Freedom

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:18:35 +1100

Joy Chambers historical novel is an epic and dramatic story set in the Phillipines during the Second World War.It is a tangled story of two couples in love and war. In Hong Kong, before her marriage to John Drayton, Lexine has a night of passion with an American officer, which results in the birth of a baby boy. Letting her husband believe the son is his child, they him bring up together until the war interrupts their lives. Leaving home on a boat in a desperate attempt to escape the Japanese, Lexine and her family are shipwrecked. Believing she is the only survivor, she is distraught about the loss of her family. She sets up home in the Philipines and agrees to look after two orphaned children. Desperately trying to flee from the Japanese, she encounters the American officer once again and her past comes back to haunt her. Lexine's best friend, Kathleen also survives the shipwreck and is taken in by a vicious and cruel Japanese general. Even though she is a vulnerable prisoner of war, he strangely never leases his violence on her.

A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:59:39 +1100

In this vibrant biography of James Holman, Roberts, a contributor to the Village Voice and McSweeney's, narrates the life of a 19th-century British naval officer who was mysteriously blinded at 25, but despite all odds became the greatest traveller of his time. Holman entered the navy at age 12, at the height of the Napoleonic Wars. When blindness overcame him, Holman was an accomplished sailor, and he engineered to join the Naval Knights of Windsor, a quirky group who only had to live in quarters near Windsor Castle and attend Mass for their stipend. For many blind people at the time, this would have been the start of a long (if safe) march to the grave. Holman would have none of it and spent the bulk of his life arranging leaves of absence from the Knights in order to wander the world (without assistance) from Paris to Shanghai; study medicine at the University of Edinburgh; hunt slavers off the coast of Africa; get arrested by one of the Tsar's elite bodyguards in Siberia; and publish several bestselling travel memoirs. Roberts does Holman justice, evoking with grace and wit the tale of this man once lionized as "The Blind Traveller."

The Wreckers by Bella Bathurst

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:59:51 +1100

Bella Bathurst's first book, the acclaimed The Lighthouse Stevensons, told the story of Scottish lighthouse construction by the ancestors of Robert Louis Stevenson. Here, she returns to the sea to search out the darker side of those lights, detailing the secret history of shipwrecks and the predatory scavengers who live off the spoils. Even today, Britain's coastline remains a dangerous place. An island soaked by four separate seas, with shifting sand banks to the east, veiled reefs to the west, powerful currents above, and the world's busiest shipping channel below, the country's offshore waters are strewn with shipwrecks. For villagers scratching out an existence along Britain's shores, those wrecks have been more than simply an act of God; in many cases, they have been the difference between living well and just getting by. Though Daphne Du Maurier made Cornwall Britain's most notorious region for wrecking, many other coastal communities regarded the "sea's bounty" as an impromptu way of providing themselves with everything from grapefruits to grand pianos. Some plunderers were held to be so skilled that they could strip a ship from stem to stern before the Coast Guard had even left port. Some were rumoured to lure ships onto the rocks with false lights, and some simply waited for winter gales to do their work. From all around Britain, Bathurst has uncovered the hidden history of ships and shipwreck victims, from shoreline orgies so Dionysian that few participants survived the morning, to humble homes fitted with silver candelabras. From coastlines rigged like stage sets, to villages where everyone owns identical tennis shoes. Spanning 300 years of history, The Wreckers examines the myths, the realities, and the superstitions of shipwrecks and uncovers the darker side of life on Britain's shores.

The Sea Captain's Wife by Martha Hodes

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:00:02 +1100

Hodes reconstructs the intriguing and unusual life of Eunice Richardson Stone Connolly, a mill labourer in mid–19th century New England who went south with her husband to seek their fortune. Homesick, even as her husband fought for the Confederacy, she returned to New Hampshire, where she was reduced to working as a washerwoman. The only thing that brought an impoverished Eunice respectability was her white skin. But then she heard of her husband's death, and in 1869, mystifying some of her relatives, Connolly put that respectability at risk, too, marrying a well-to-do black sea captain from Grand Cayman Island and moving there with him. Hodes, a historian at NYU (White Women, Black Men: Illicit Sex in the Nineteenth-Century South), relies on a rich cache of Connolly's letters, which are housed at Duke University. Unfortunately, the letters don't reveal how Connolly met her second husband or explain in depth why she decided to marry him. Hodes's prose, though sometimes a bit affected ("In place of fiction, I offer the craft of history, assisted by the art of speculation"), is lucid and her account is engaging, though for readers steeped in the subject not path breaking; what Hodes has to tell us about the 19th century—that race was socially constructed and complicated, for example—is nothing new. Nonetheless, it’s fascinating reading.

Mission Song by John LeCarre

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:00:12 +1100

I don't know what accounts for the longevity of so many contemporary American and European writers, in terms of both lifespans and productivity. Not too long ago, short lives were common in the literary world. But with so many authors living so long, a writer nowadays can remain a young writer well into middle age. Sixty is the new 40. Now comes The Mission Song, the 20th novel by Britain's John le Carré, who turns 75 this year and shows no signs of fatigue. His prose is as lovely and expressive as ever; his ear for dialogue remains wonderfully acute. Each of the characters in The Mission Song speaks with a distinctive voice, so that the usual interjections of "so-and-so said" seem almost superfluous. An ear for speech is the genius of le Carré's protagonist, Bruno Salvador, an interpreter fluent in English, French, Swahili and several other African languages such as Kinyarwanda (the native tongue of Rwanda) and Shi (spoken in the eastern Congo). In establishing his main character's backstory, le Carré's pacing is neither overly leisured nor mechanically efficient. As naive as he is vain, ardent to serve Queen and country, Salvo takes on a challenging mission that will change his life and from then on, with the hooked reader in tow, he plunges into familiar le Carré territory, a world of The Mission Song is a minor work compared with le Carré's big Cold War novels, but his scepticism, compassion and sense of moral outrage are as much in evidence here as in A Perfect Spy or The Honourable Schoolboy. To categorize him, as many do, as a "spy" novelist is to do him a disservice; he uses the world of cloak-and-dagger much as Conrad used the sea -- to explore the dark places in human nature.

The Innocent Man by John Grisham

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:00:20 +1100

John Grisham tackles non-fiction for the first time with The Innocent Man, a true tale about murder and injustice in a small town (that reads like one of his own bestselling novels). The Innocent Man chronicles the story of Ron Williamson, how he was arrested and charged with a crime he did not commit, how his case was (mis)handled and how an innocent man was sent to death row. Grisham's first work of nonfiction is shocking, disturbing and enthralling: a must-read for fiction and nonfiction fans. It centres around the major league draft of 1971, and the shattering of a dream held by Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s he hoped to pursue his dreams of big league glory, but instead found himself sucked into a vortex of drinking, drugs and mental illness. More than a decade later, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress was raped and murdered, and for five years the crime remained unsolved – yet somehow, it got pinned on Williamson. With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Williamson was sent to death row. If you believe the justice system declares you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.

The Way of the Shark by Greg Norman

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:00:30 +1100

Known universally as the Great White Shark for his rugged blonde mop, Greg Norman will go down in golfing history as one of the greatest of all times - the finest performer to grace a golf course between the golden era of Jack Nicklaus and the modern era of Tiger Woods. Before Woods, Greg had occupied the Official World No. 1 rankings far longer than any other player in the modern game, with an incredible 331 weeks at the top. He sensationally won the Open Championship twice - in 1986 and 1993 - has 20 PGA and European Tour wins to his name and 29 top 10 finishes in majors. But despite such huge success, he is perhaps best loved as the nearly man in so many other big tournaments: particularly The Masters, US Open, and PGA Championship. He was equally a victim of his own bad luck, and good luck on the part of his fellow golfers (losing a near-certain PGA Championship win in 1986 after Bob Tway holed a bunker shot, and losing The Masters the following year in a playoff by an even more miraculous 45-yard chip shot from Larry Mize), and a couple of infamous 'chokes' where Norman's wobble-prone putting got the better of him. But this is not just a story of the highs and lows of a golfing legend either. Greg Norman has made a huge success in business since leaving the top rank of golf, with an empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and here he offers the motivational truths that have driven him to win on both the fairway and beyond. Using his familiar charm and humour, Greg's own book is an honest look at the long and arduous path to success: a journey littered with hard work, hard decisions, knowing when to trust your instincts, handling failure, psychological doubts, finding self-belief and learning from mistakes. An inspiration to any sportsman.

The Dangerous Book for Boys

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:58:52 +1000

How many other books will help you thrash someone at conkers, race your own go-cart, and identify the best quotations from Shakespeare? The Dangerous Book for Boys gives you facts and figures at your fingertips – swot up on the solar system, learn about famous battles and read inspiring stories of incredible courage and bravery. Teach your old dog new tricks. Make a pinhole camera. Understand the laws of cricket. There's a whole world out there: with this book, anyone can get out and explore it. The Dangerous Book for Boys is written with the verve and passion that readers of Conn Iggulden's number one bestselling novels have come to expect. This book, his first non-fiction work, has been written with his brother as a celebration of the long summers of their youth and as a compendium of information so vital to men of all ages. Lavishly designed and fully illustrated in colour and black and white throughout, it's set to be a perfect gift for Father's Day and beyond.

Girls Like You

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:58:54 +1000

Girls Like You' is a disturbing story about violent sexual assault - gang rape - how it played out in the legal system and what journalist Paul Sheehan calls a 'cultural clash'.

Grace

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:58:56 +1000

Some relevant facts about Grace Malloy. Apart from being named after a 100 000-year-old skeleton, she was twenty-nine and for much of the past three years she'd been hiding from an erotomaniac. Physically and emotionally besieged, Grace attempts to claw back from her personal territory by abandoning her inner-city life as a film reviewer and fleeing to the remoteness of the Kimberley - where existence and territory have altogether wider implications. Lying low, working in a wildlife park, she slowly reclaims her sanity. Her only links to the outside world are her father and her stalker. Intricately plotted, breathlessly paced, Grace reflects on the countless varieties of love and the nature of fear. At once intimate and grand in scale, this disquieting and provocatively witty novel reveals the full vigour of an artistic vision in turn poetic and cinematic.

A Man's Got to Have a Hobby

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:58:57 +1000

William McInnes is a talented writer and a natural storyteller. A tail-end baby boomer, William recalls summer holidays that seemed to go on forever, when he and his mates would walk down to fish in the bay, a time when the Aussie battler stood as the local Labor candidate and looked out for his mates, and a time when the whole family would rush into the lounge room to watch a new commercial on TV. This is a book about people who aren't famous but should be. It's about cane toads and families, love and hope and fear, laughter, death and life. Most of all, it is a realistic, down-to-earth book by a man who had a great time growing up. His warmth and humour come through on every page. This Australian memoir tells of a time that will be familiar to many readers and a delight for all.

Blood and Sand

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:58:59 +1000

On 6 June 2004, Frank Gardner and cameraman Simon Cumbers were in a quiet suburb of Riyadh, filming a piece on Al-Qaeda when they were confronted by Islamist gunmen. Simon was killed instantly. Frank was brought down by a shot in the shoulder, then the leg. As he lay in the dusty street, a figure stood over him and proceeded to pump 4 more bullets into him at point blank range. BLOOD & SAND is the story of a man who was left for dead but - and against all odds - survived. And not only did Frank Gardner survive but, drawing on his journalistic calling, he has given us an extraordinary, terrifying account of the whole, literally life-shattering, experience - from what it's like to be shot to the excruciating months of recovery. But his book is more than about this one incident and its aftermath. It is about a journey that began 25 years ago with a chance meeting on a London bus with the veteran Arabian explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who inspired in the young Frank what would become a lifelong passion for the Arab world. This abiding interest would lead him to travel throughout the Middle East, experiencing at first hand peoples, places and cultures that few have encountered - a colourful world of scorpion-infested Bedouin tents, of Cairene hash dens and vibrant Egyptian slums. It's a journey that would eventually lead, via the world of banking, to Frank becoming a journalist with the BBC. And it was this passion that would, in the wake of the world-changing events of 9/11, send him on the journey that came to dominate - and so very nearly end - his life: his coverage of the phenomenon that is Al-Qaeda. Written with honesty, integrity and humour, this is a powerful, haunting account of survival, of over-coming adversity and a determination to carry on - a moving and inspiring personal story that reveals a deep understanding of the Islamic world and an insider's compelling analysis of the on-going 'War on Terror' and what it means in these uncertain times.