A detailed account of Australian explorer Ernest Powell Giles' five expeditions in South Australia, first published in 1889.

Australian Backyard Explorer has been recognised on the 2011 White Ravens list for international children's and youth literature. Produced each year by the International Youth Library in Germany, the White Ravens recognise 'books of international interest that deserve a wider reception on account of their universal theme' or 'their exceptional and often innovative artistic and literary style and design'. Australian Backyard Explorer tells the stories of many intrepid individuals who explored the Australian continent in the first 120 years of European settlement. It includes little known explorers as well as the old favourites, such as James Cook, Edward John Eyre, Robert Oe(tm)Hara Burke and William John Wills. There are tales not only of tragedy, conflict and death, but also of loyalty, amazing perseverance and wonder over the new animals and landscapes they encountered.

The desert has a hypnotic presence in Australian culture, simultaneously alluring and repellent. The 'Centre' is distant and unknown to most Australians, yet has become a symbol of the country. This exciting book, highly illustrated in full colour, reveals the singular impact that the desert, both geographical and metaphorical, has had on Australian culture. At the heart of the book is the profound relationship that Aboriginal Australians have with the desert, and the complex ways in which they have been seen by white people in this context.

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

This work is a collection of compiled journals of Ernest Giles an Australian explorer who led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia. These journals were published, as each journey ended, as parliamentary papers by the Government of the Colony of South Australia. The book shows that Giles had the bravery, resources, and spirit of enterprise, a few things that are essential to an explorer. His story is lighted up sometimes by what he has to say about the few well-watered and delightful tracts of land through which he passed during his various expeditions. His explorations were essential links in the chain of Australian geographical research, and he has acted wisely in preparing a complete and accurate account of them. Maps and illustrations considerably increase the value of the work. "I have had to encounter a large area of desert country in the interior of the colonies of South Australia, and Western Australia, in my various wanderings; but I also discovered considerable tracts of lands watered and suitable for occupation." said the author.