10 BEST HOLIDAY READS
Reviewer Mary Ann Elliott selects some good reads
THE INCIDENTAL TOURIST Author: Peter Doherty Publisher: Melbourne University Press RRP: $29.99
JOIN Nobel Prize winner and leading immunologist Peter Doherty on his extraordinary travels around the world.
This eminent Australian scientist charts his journey of discovery.
Most of his travel relates to his work, however his other personal obsession, history and how and why things happened, underpins this story.
It is only 50 years since rapid international jet travel has allowed us to criss-cross the globe, something our forbears could not have dreamed of.
With an avid researcher’s eye for detail, Doherty relishes the unexpected encounters in scientific meetings that are off the beaten track, getting to see less familiar towns.
From valuable tips on maintaining viral immunity while travelling, from Kunming to Rio, from Mumbai to Memphis, Doherty’s observations make for ideal armchair travel.
SAVING MONA LISA Author: Gerri Chanel Publisher: Icon RRP: $29.99
AWARD-WINNING journalist Gerri Chanel lived in France for five years to research her book.
Perfectly paced and detailed, she places the intriguing story of the Louvre’s famous art works in the wider context of the German occupation years.
Underpinning this thrilling adventure story, Chanel pays tribute to the dedicated art curators who fought fearlessly to outwit the Nazi occupiers and collaborators.
Putting themselves in great danger to protect not only the famous Mona Lisa but thousands of other art works, the curators hid them in various parts of the countryside; in chateaux and innocuous depots. Keeping priceless treasures out of Hitler’s hands provides an engrossing mix of war and art history in this compelling true story.
EUROPE Author: Tim Flannery Publisher: Text RRP: $34.99
TIM Flannery’s enthralling story of Europe details its ecological emergence and extraordinary transition from tropical island archipelago to the continent of today.
Europe was once home to elephants and rhinos, giant deer and lions. The first coral reefs were formed there. As an archipelago100 million years ago, through the interaction of Africa, Asia and North America, it has been a melting-pot of animal and plant life ever since.
Amazing fossil finds date its human evolution back to 40,000 years ago.
With his easy conversational writing style, eminent scientist, explorer and conservationist Tim Flannery, makes a complex subject accessible, entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
GHOST RIDERS Author: Mark Felton Publisher: Allen and Unwin RRP: $49.99
“GIVE me 10 years and you won’t recognise Germany,” declared Adolf Hitler in 1933 shortly before he became chancellor. His prophecy came to pass, but in a different guise to the one he’d envisaged.
Instead, his dream of a 1000Year Reich was now a smoking ruin.
In the closing days of the war, fate decrees that American GIs and disenchanted German prisoners join forces to save the famous white Lipizzaner stallions.
Traditionally housed in Vienna’s elegant Hofburg Palace, home of the 400-year-old Spanish riding school, the thoroughbreds have been evacuated to the countryside. But just 60 miles away, the Red Army is advancing, hell-bent on swallowing up territory before the inevitable German surrender.
Can a small US task force cut through fanatical SS troops to rescue these precious horses from the ruthless Soviets?
This little-known rescue mission has never been fully told. Historian Mark Felton’s deeply researched account is a thrilling read.
GARDENS ON THE EDGE Author: Christine Reid Publisher: Murdoch Books RRP: $59.99
HERE’S a magnificent coffee-table size book for all gardeners to savour over our long hot summer.
Christine Reid’s main interest is the social and cultural history of gardens and their landscapes.
Her insightful text and breathtaking full colour-plate photography by Simon Griffiths capture splendid visions of 18 extraordinary Australian gardens.
Each of the featured landscapes is “on the edge” of a rainforest, desert, bushland, river, mountain range or by the coast. In another sense, Australian gardeners are always “on the edge” in dealing with the harsh environments and diverse climates.
From the unforgiving outback terrain, through drought