Australia is the sixth largest country in the world, with its size being only slightly less than the mainland of the United States. It got its start as a colony for prisoners, and it has some of the most poisonous and unique fauna in the world. Education, geography, climate, and culture are just a few areas into which readers will delve in this book as they journey though the Land Down Under.

Readers will find fascinating details about the discovery, whereabouts, and value of famous opals, from such classic specimens as the Burning of Troy Opal to the Bonanza Opal and other more recent discoveries. Finally, the book surveys today's major opal-producing areas and provides current information on opal occurrence worldwide. Punctuating the text are useful tables, extensive glossaries of opal types and opal-related terms, and beautiful photographs that capture the essence and mystery of this most exquisite stone.

"Written especially for the opal collector and gemmology student, as well as for the opal miner or visitor to the opal fields, this bokk names every recorded opal deposit in Australia and pinpoints every location on concise geologial maps. The text claifies in understandable terms the many mioneralogical, gemmological, and commercial complexities of the opal gemstone and explains the scientific factors involved in opal formation." - book jacket.