Some More Reading

As you might gather we are still not home yet, so we must be enjoying ourselves on the road.
Here are a few more books to consider.

The armed rebellion known as the Eureka Stockade in the gold fields of Ballarat, in the state of Victoria, Australia on 3rd December 1854 was brought about by grievances over the high price of mining items, the expense of a Miner's Licence, taxation without representation and the actions of the government and its police and military.
While the events which sparked the rebellion were specific to the Ballarat gold fields, the grievances had been the subject of public meetings, civil disobedience and deputations across the various Victorian gold fields for a number of years.
Although swiftly and violently put down by the government forces, the Eureka rebellion was a watershed event in Australian politics.
The preceding years of agitation for the miners' demands combined with mass public support in Melbourne for the captured 'rebels' when they were placed on trial, resulted in the introduction of full male suffrage for elections for the lower house in the Victorian parliament.
The role of the Eureka Stockade in generating public support for these demands beyond the goldfields resulted in Eureka being identified with the birth of democracy in Australia.
This book covers the lead up, the conflict and aftermath in great detail with some wonderful pictures.

More of coffee table book than a read. Beautifully presented and illustrated 160 page celebration of Abraham Lincoln's life from childhood to assassination. A feature of the book are removable reproductions of important documents including his letters, draft speeches, marriage licence, Civil War telegrams etc.
I bought this from the bargain table in Borders, Minneapolis last trip for $3.00.
I saw it in Borders, Sydney, a few weeks ago all wrapped up securely in plastic for $87.00!

Yes, THAT Jimmy Buffett! A light adventure novel full of shallow characters as well as implausible plot and subplots . Good fun but when you have finished it you might ask, why did I bother!
Maybe he should stick to singing!

A history of the Australian Wine Industry from the arrival of the first fleet in 1788 with its small cache of vine cuttings to the present day, well, 2002. It is a tale of the characters who have populated the wine industry as well as the multi billion dollar businesses that now dominate it.
Probably a book for the wine buff only.