Reviews.

“Free and Easy Land,” by Frank Clune (Angus and Robertson, Sydney) is one of the best Australian travel books I have read. The author has evidently enjoyed writing this book; it is as full of his own personality as it is as full of his own personality as it is of his quality for presenting interesting facts in a most appealing manner. The reader is therefore a joyful participant in the news gathering peregrinations of the author. He rambles from Brisbane to page 46

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Cloncurry, to the Gulf round Cape York and down the east coast. He works his passage over one part of the journey, at others travels as a tourist, and then with his wife. Every town he visits takes on a special interest for the reader, for Frank Clune has a great eye for purple patches or for those slender news items that become so interesting when presented by a practised hand. We meet cattle duffers, gold discoverers, explorers, convicts, squatters and heads of industry. They are all sketched colourfully. Ever and anon the author dips into history and tells of wrecks, of old sea navigators and explorers. His style is inimitable and he has a rare touch of humour. In reading this book you realise that Frank Clune is holding the stage—and he fills it ably.

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“The Bone Is Pointed,” by Arthur W. Upfield (Angus and Robertson, Sydney) is a gripping Australian detective story in which we meet once more our old friend Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte. Again Mr. Up-field gives us a complete break from the big city atmosphere of the average detective thriller. No dinner-jacket-smart-society-detective-story here. Instead, we have a thrilling tale of the Australian bush with “Bony,” a potential victim of the uncanny bone-pointing powers of the Australian aboriginal. Excitement piles on excitement as “Bony” grows pathetically weaker under the baneful influence of the pointed bone of the aborigines who seek to prevent him discovering the secret of the disappearance of a missing bushman. A graphic account of a remarkable rabbit migration adds to the interest of the novel. Truly a welcome change from the well-worn path of modern detective fiction.

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“Australian Inland Wonders,” by Charles Barrett, C.M.Z.S. (Robertson and Mullens, Melbourne) is an artistically produced booklet telling in picture and letterpress of the natural wonders of the Great Continent across the Tasman. Such subjects as barking lizards, and barking spiders, the great bower-bird, an underground world, the marvellous kingdom of ants, the ways of the aboriginal, make intensely interesting reading. Some fine pictures face the letterpress.

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“Out of the Mountains,” by Miss I. E. Dickens, M.A. (A. H. and A. W. Reed) is a tribute written with characteristic feminine charm about the Southern Lakes District, the Milford Track and Milford Sound. The book is evidently the result of a tour undertaken by a small party in February, 1938. The word pictures of the writer are easy and natural, but because of this do not lack anything of their vividness. Here and there are interspersed practical suggestions which should assist to keep the book in steady demand by tourists and trampers. The illustrations fit in nicely with the letterpress.

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“Railway and Tramway Enthusiasts’ Magazine” (Sydney, 6d. monthly). This well-illustrated magazine will be of interest to those railway and tramway enthusiasts who “recognise and appreciate the great work performed by the railways, tramways and their complementary services in the development and expansion of Australia and New Zealand.” In format, appearance and quality of contents, the magazine attains a high standard, and should prove a useful addition to every railwayman's library.

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“Tui's Annual.”—I have a great admiration for this Annual (published by the “New Zealand Exporter”) because of the practical help and encouragement it gives to New Zealand writers, artists and photographers. No “syndicated stuff” for “Tui's Annual”—everything is paid for. The latest issue is of high artistic merit.

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“First With The Sun” is the title of a collection of essays by Alan Mulgan due here shortly from Dents. Black and white illustrations from the Canterbury artist Olive Spencer-Bower will be included.

Due from A. and R. next month is a novel by Kenneth Roberts entitled “Rabble In Arms.” A. and R. run to big figures these days and confidently expect to sell 20,000 copies of Roberts’ book.

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