Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Vol. 1 is a work by George Grey. Grey was a British soldier, voyager, colonial administrator and author. Excerpt: "This morning directly after breakfast I read prayers to the men, and then commenced my preparations for the excursion on which I intended to start in the evening. Whilst I was occupied in arranging my papers Mr. Lushington observed two natives sitting on the rocks on the top of the cliffs which overlooked the valley, and gazing down intently on us. The instant that he made friendly signs to them they rose from their seats and began to retreat. Some of the party then called to them and one of the natives answered; but they still moved rapidly away. I would not allow them to be followed for fear of increasing their alarm, and in the hope that they would return, but was disappointed. It must have awakened strange feelings in the breast of these two savages, who could never before have seen civilized man, thus to have sat spectators and overlookers of the every action of such incomprehensible beings as we must have appeared; and the relation to their comrades of the wonders they had witnessed could not have been to them a whit less marvellous than the tales of the grey-headed Irish peasant, when he recounts the freaks of the fairies, "whose midnight revels by the forest side or fountain" he has watched intently from some shrub-clad hill."

The following pages contain the results of the author's travels and residence in the western parts of Australia, between the years 1837 and 1840, during which period he traversed extensive regions unknown to the European traveler, and probably never before trodden by the foot of civilized man. It is not alone with gratification of enlightened curiosity that the countries now first brought to notice are likely to be objects of interest. A knowledge of the districts lying between Swan River and Shark Bay cannot but be of importance to future colonists, whilst the intertropical provinces of the north-west coasts, distinguished as they are by important peculiarities both of character and position, are equally calculated to draw the attention of the literary and enterprising enquirer.

This three-volume series represents a comprehensive treatment of the beetles of Australia, a relatively under-studied fauna that includes many unusual and unique lineages found nowhere else on Earth. Volume 2 contains 36 chapters, providing critical information and identification keys to the genera of the Australian beetle families included in suborders Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga and several groups of Polyphaga (Scirtoidea, Hydrophiloidea, Scarabaeoidea, Buprestoidea and Tenebrionidae). Each chapter is richly illustrated in black and white drawings and photographs. The book also includes colour habitus figures for about 1000 Australian beetle genera and subgenera belonging to the families treated in this volume. This volume is a truly international collaborative effort, as the chapters have been written by 23 contributors from Australia, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland and USA.

Pyne traces the impact of fire in Australia, from its influence on vegetation to its use by Aborigines and European settlers.“Mr. Pyne, showing what a historian deeply schooled in environmental science can contribute to our awareness of nature and culture, has produced a provocative work that is a major contribution to the literature of environmental studies.”—New York Times Book Review

Examines the politicisation of empathy across the British empire during the nineteenth century and traces its legacies into the present.