John Chalmers

This story is fast, absorbing and full of conflict, humour and redemption. Set against the backdrop of a cataclysmic abyssal event beneath the Southern Ocean, two brothers engage in a deadly conflict. An Irish writer combines insight and cynicism to produce a life changing document. The rich characterisation and eccentric intelligence of the central players mark this story out as a classic tale of down to earth self discovery. Witty and unusual.

Disillusioned with Australia, a wounded spirit travels to Asia looking for wisdom. Jaded with love he wanders through the bars in Bangkok and meets a woman who confronts and awakens him. He continues his wandering and receives a series of blessings that eventually lead him back to where he began. There he finds illumination.

An irrationally optimistic Australian minstrel with a wicked sense of humour takes on the British in the 1970s. It was a way of thinking that was too much fun to last. It came, it flowered and then it grew up and got a mortgage. Tightly crafted and visually immediate. Full of the romance of youth. A must for dreamers and deep thinkers.

Western Australia is in the middle of the greatest minerals bonanza in history. People are flocking there from all over the world to strike it rich. They stay in hostels in Perth while they are looking for work in the desert. The hostels contain the nicest collection of misfits on earth. Come and join the fun as these internationals live out their daily dramas in public in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Three short stories. All different. The Dogstalker hates the sound of barking dogs. What he does about it is quite surprising. What happens to him is even more so. In The German Officer's Dagger a woman is faced with the horror of a reincarnated Nazi. In The Myth of Aries there are people who base their lives on astrology. We see the potential consequences. These three stories are satisfying and educative. A tense and insightful collection.

In 1967 the Alberta Teachers' Association published, in honour of Canada's Centennial, a history of the public school system in Alberta entitled Schools of the Foothills Province. This informative book published for the Association by University of Toronto Press is now followed by a companion volume written by the same author, which tells the story of the Association itself, and its long and sturdy efforts to improve the position of teachers and the quality of education in the province. After providing the background to the formation of the ATA (which officially began on July 24, 1918) the author goes on to describe the growth of the organization from its beginnings as a spare-time activity for teachers to a strong influential union. From its earliest years it was affiliated with the labour movements of the Twenties, and fought with increasing strength for the rights of Alberta teachers. Throughout this study, the ATA's concern is evident not only for the economic aspects of teaching for higher salaries and pension schemes, but also for other features: departmental examinations and curricula, preparation and certification of teachers, and educational research. The ATA's mercurial relations with the provincial government are related, its struggle through the depression years and its blossoming in the first decade after 1935 under a Social Credit Government. Leading personalities move through this story against the turbulent background of a growing young province, contributing an air of vigorous controversy and achievement to the story of the ATA.