In the world of crime fiction, Arthur W. Upfield stands among the giants. His detective-inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, is one of the most memorable of all crime fighters. Upfield was an independent, fiercely self-assertive ex-Britisher, who loved Australia, especially the Outback. In many ways Upfield became Outback Australia—the “Spirit of Australia.”

"The Spirit of Rural Australia" focuses on the nature of rural landscapes and communities. The photography has a nostalgic theme that reflects on past farming practices, institutions and key occupations fundamental to rural Australia, while at the same time the text considers the changes which are occurring throughout rural communities. The book is organised into the sections of Land, Work, House, Town and Communication/ Images of country people, elements of story, anecdote, memoir and biography intertwine to produce this visual celebration.

Popular account of authors encounters with Aboriginal people and culture in the Kimberley and Great Sandy Desert; definition of Dreamtime, contemporary political background; based on conversations with Daisy Utemorrah, Ted Carlton, Jim Ward, Danny Wallace, George Wallaby, Reg Birch, Betty Johnston, Jack Rogers, Billy Oscar, Banjo Woorunmarra and David Mowaljarlai; visits to Wandjina art site, Waringarri, Mowanjum, Emu Creek, Kununurra, Balgo, Halls Creek and Yiyilu; relationship to land, parallels with native Americans; land rights; alcohol abuse; station life; mythology (eagle hawk, Billaluna region, Wandjina); mining industry; ATSIC; Christianity; law and punishment; healing; smoking ceremony; music; Pigeon (Jandamarra); Mowaljarlais Body of Australia vision.

At only 16 years of age Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail solo, unassisted and non-stop around the world. In her very own words, she tells us about her childhood, her influences, her years of planning and her incredible journey. She shares how she battled with sleep deprivation, gale-force winds, mountainous seas, whales and icebergs and what it was liek to hold firm against the solitude of 210 says at sea.

Described as the "eighth wonder of the world" and a "magnificent floral jewel," and visited by millions of people, the award-winning terraced gardens of the Bahá'i' Faith in Haifa, Israel, and the gardens north of Haifa at Bahji Akka, have a unique history spanning more than one hundred fifty years. Beyond the gardens, obvious beauty and serenity lies a compelling story of love, selfless devotion, patience, fortitude, and extreme sacrifice. "Gardens of the Spirit" captures that history for the first time in one volume using stunning photographs and archival images and drawing upon details from published histories, biographies, and memoirs, in addition to documents and official communications from the Bahá'i World Centre. -- From publisher's description.

In The Spirit of Praise, Monique Ingalls and Amos Yong bring together a multidisciplinary, scholarly exploration of music and worship in global pentecostal-charismatic Christianity at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The Spirit of Praise contends that gaining a full understanding of this influential religious movement requires close listening to its songs and careful attention to its patterns of worship. The essays in this volume place ethnomusicological, theological, historical, and sociological perspectives into dialogue. By engaging with these disciplines and exploring themes of interconnection, interface, and identity within musical and ritual practices, the essays illuminate larger social processes such as globalization, sacralization, and secularization, as well as the role of religion in social and cultural change. Aside from the editors, the contributors are Peter Althouse, Will Boone, Mark Evans, Ryan R. Gladwin, Birgitta J. Johnson, Jean Ngoya Kidula, Miranda Klaver, Andrew Mall, Kimberly Jenkins Marshall, Andrew M. McCoy, Martijn Oosterbaan, Dave Perkins, Wen Reagan, Tanya Riches, Michael Webb, and Michael Wilkinson.

The first full-length account of D.H. Lawrence’s rich engagement with a country he found both fascinating and frustrating, D.H. Lawrence’s Australia focuses on the philosophical, anthropological and literary influences that informed the utopian and regenerative visions that characterise so much of Lawrence’s work. David Game gives particular attention to the four novels and one novella published between 1920 and 1925, what Game calls Lawrence’s 'Australian period,' shedding new light on Lawrence’s attitudes towards Australia in general and, more specifically, towards Australian Aborigines, women and colonialism. He revisits key aspects of Lawrence’s development as a novelist and thinker, including the influence of Darwin and Lawrence’s rejection of eugenics, Christianity, psychoanalysis and science. While Game concentrates on the Australian novels such as Kangaroo and The Boy in the Bush, he also uncovers the Australian elements in a range of other works, including Lawrence’s last novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Lawrence lived in Australia for just three months, but as Game shows, it played a significant role in his quest for a way of life that would enable regeneration of the individual in the face of what Lawrence saw as the moral collapse of modern industrial civilisation after the outbreak of World War I.