Coming to terms with one's mummy

 

Mint condition. HB. 182pp. $25 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Understanding the most difficult, complicated and fascinating relationship in your life

Guilt. Affection. Embarrassment. Friendship. Anger. Love -- who can bring out all these feelings, and often in the same day? Your mother.

No matter how mature or successful we are in our adult lives, with one word our mothers can somehow send us scurrying back to childhood.

Can mothers and adult children ever learn to set aside their earlier relationship and talk to each other as adults?

In this warm, funny book, dozens of revealing stories from well known personalities from politics and show business show that it is possible to improve your relationship with your mother- or at the very least begin to understand it.

Alyce Faye Cleese and Brian Bates include a practical ten-step plan and questionnaire to help you get back on track with your mother.

You will learn to address specific issues and develop valuable insights that will help you start thinking about your mother in a profoundly new way.

Politics in the Age of Extremism

 

Mint condition. PB. 415pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

From Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Ron Suskind comes an astonishing investigation of how America lost its way and the nation's daily struggle to reclaim the moral authority upon which its survival depends.

Tracking down historic revelations and improbable hope from the Beltway to the farthest corners of the globe, Suskind delivers a stirring and strikingly original portrait of the post-9/11 world.

Fine Indian fiction from Rohinton Mistry

 

Excellent condition. PB. 487pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Nariman Vakeel is a 79 year-old widower beset by Parkinson's disease and haunted by memories of the past.

When his illness is compounded by a broken ankle, he's forced to take up residence with his daughter Roxana, her husband Yezad and their two sons.

This pushes Yezad into a scheme of deception - with devastating consequences.

About the author ...

Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, where he also attended university. He later migrated to Canada, where he began a course in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto.

He is the author of three novels and one collection of short stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998.

His second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize.

His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag, was published in 1987.

SOLD History's greatest scandals

 

SOLD

HB. Mint condition. 255pp. $25 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Smart, educated, and accomplished people—often the pillars of society—sometimes behave in the most uncharacteristic and fascinating ways.

These are stories of adultery, perversion, shameless greed, theft, and deception—scandal in its rawest forms—that have brought down presidents, prime ministers, clergy, and famous people from every walk of life.

The gripping dramas climax in catastrophic exposures and career-destroying indiscretions that rival great fiction and are all the more astounding because they are seminal moments in our history.

*The stories star famous names and often share selfish desires, yet each tale shocks us—sometimes for its audacity, sometimes for its complexity, sometimes for its pure idiocy.

*Inside you’ll find several in-depth accounts of the greatest scandals in history.

Alternately disturbing and amazing, the narratives of History’s Greatest Scandals reveal clandestine affairs, underhanded political dealings, blatant criminal activity, and other dramatic episodes that erupt in the lives of successful people.

SOLD History's Worst Decisions

 

SOLD

Mint condition. HB. 255pp. $25 including postage anywhere in Australia.

A compendium of cock-ups, from the Trojan War to Gallipoli, from the Boston Tea Party to the Enron scandal - a book that shows it's all too easy to go down in history as an idiot!

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' - George Santayana, philosopher and writer

Mankind's past is strewn with mistakes - colossal blunders driven by virtue as often as vice. Some unlucky people didn't always set out to cause the mayhem they did, but somehow things just went wrong. Really wrong.

History's Worst Decisions shines a light on fifty of the biggest.

Starting with Adam and Eve's original blunder in eating the apple, author Stephen Weir takes you on a tour of catastrophes from antiquity to modern times.

From the Trojan War to Gallipoli, from the Boston Tea Party to the Enron scandal, famous figures of ancient times such as Cleopatra and Nero rub shoulders with more modern culprits like Churchill and Mugabe.

History's Worst Decisions doesn't just point the finger at individuals, the actions of governments and corporations are also scrutinised.

The motivations, often sinister and sometimes naive, that led those responsible to commit their mistakes are unveiled, as is the lasting impact that their decisions have had on the world we live in today.

About the Author

A graduate of Cambridge University, Stephen Weir is a writer and publisher who has worked on three continents.

He has worked with authors as diverse as the Australian novelist Patrick White, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the noted British military historian John Keegan, and the billionaire George Soros.

Don Aitkin on the making of modern Australia

 

Mint condition. PB. 288pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Surveys the dramatic changes in Australian society over the last half century - from the blinkered and conservative British colony' of 1953 to the progressive, confident society we are today.

'This is a remarkable book. Don Aitkin brings fresh insight to the question What does it mean to be Australian?'' Hugh Mackay

'To understand contemporary Australia this will be a mandatory read and one to be enjoyed.' Wendy McCarthy AO Chancellor, University of Canberra

'This book touches the heart and the head. It is both a celebration of the Australian people and a warning about Australia's future.' Paul Kelly

Australia has emerged, sixty years after the end of the Second World War, as one of the world's most successful societies.

How did we go from being a blinkered and conservative former British colony, to the progressive and confident society we are today? And how can we keep it this way? These are the questions at the core of What Was It All For?

In this compelling new book, Aitkin reflects on the key factors education, immigration and wealth that have produced this change. We've seen important advances in areas as diverse as sport and music, work and leisure, and religion. We've celebrated the changing status of women and observed shifting attitudes to the importance of Sunday and of churchgoing, the houses we buy and renovate, the books we read and the food we eat. But at what cost? Strong community bonds have given way to an individualist, materialist ethic, while the very notion of community' has changed fundamentally.

Australians know who we aren't, as was the case in 1950, but are we any surer now of who we are or what we stand for?

Enlivened by the life-experiences of his own high school Class of '53, Aitkin's new book is a must for anyone who wants to know how Australia got to be the way it is and what needs to be done in the future.

Travels with an ABC cameraman

 

Mint condition. PB. 262pp. $25 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Take an entertaining and occasionally terrifying ride alongside likeable ABC TV camerman, Julian Mather and share some adventures from his 25 years on the job. 

Wry humour infuses this beautifully written book. 

For as long as he could remember Julian Mather wanted to be a photojournalist. then he got side-tracked. 

And while military sniper seemed like a good idea at the time, he found the telescopic sights of his rifle were starting to look more and more like a movie camera, and so he fell in love with film-making. It wasn't quite photojournalism but it was better than killing people. 

Shooting people with a camera was more, well, fun. And of course, life as an ABC TV cameraman was less life-threatening -- wasn't it? 

From filming explosions in Los Alamos, to harrowing car journeys in Kosovo, from performing magic tricks for kids to hanging from helicopters with his camera on his shoulder, Julian goes from one exciting and perilous adventure to another. 

And then there's the people he meets along the way: care workers and strippers, refugees and nuclear scientists, and the many strange and wonderful character he works with, both in the outback and the corridors of that great national institution, the ABC. 

It's a bloody great job, even if it is the second best job in the world. 

THE SECOND BEST JOB IN THE WORLD is a funny and entertaining look at the life of an extremely likeable TV cameraman who really has been everywhere, and done everything.

SOLD Journey along the Andes

 

SOLD

Mint condition. PB. 216pp. $18 including postage anywhere in Australia.

When Christopher Portway and his companion David Taylor decided to follow the royal path of the Incas from Bolivia through Peru to Ecuador and Colombia, they held no illusions as to the difficulty of the task they has set themselves.

Indeed, their first task was to find the road itself. Built by the Incas in the fifteenth century, the purpose of the royal road was to connect their southern capital of Cuzco with their northern city of Quito. 

Subsequent extensions to this original road took it north into Colombia and south into Argentina. Overall, it covered some 3,250 miles. 

But this road is no signposted and neatly paved way. The road when it was built varied between 15 and 24 feet wide and from being a series of rough steps cut into a rocky mountainside, to a built up causeway over waterlogged ground, to a simple waymarked track across wide empty grassland. 

Along its length rest-houses, temples and forts were built. But the road today is no longer continuous and whereas in places its agger is clearly defined, in others it simply disappears - though many of the building remain.

Becoming lost in so vast a territory was a real possibility, since no only were maps of the supposed route rare, but those the two of them possessed contradicted each other to an alarming degree.

SOLD The history of the Koh-i-Noor, India's great diamond

 

SOLD

Mint condition. PB. 272pp. $18 including postage anywhere in Australia.

In the beginning diamonds came from India, nowhere else. And the greatest of those ancient stones cut a deep and bloody path across the history and legends of the country. 

The Koh-i-Noor, the Mountain of Light, has been fought over, cursed and occasionally lost. Seized by British agents eager to please the young Queen Victoria, it now lies in the Tower of London, its ownership still disputed. Kevin Rushby follows the trail of this great jewel.

Biography of a Gallipoli hero

 

Incredible read. Excellent condition. PB. 393pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

From the bestselling author of Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You and Gallipoli Sniper.

In The Price of Valour award-winning journalist John Hamilton gives us an extraordinary insight into the life of a real Australian hero, Hugo Throssell.

From the bloody battles of The Nek and Hill 60 during the Gallipoli campaign, where Throssell won a Victoria Cross, to the Great Depression of the 1930s, where his life came to its tragic end, Hamilton has written a rich and vivid portrait of a fearless soldier, a national hero, a born-again socialist, a loving husband and father, and finally a victim of the war's long and destructive aftermath.

Winner of the Nib Waverley Library Award for Literature People's Choice Award 2013

SOLD The happiest man on earth!

 

SOLD

Here's a lovely book to make you feel hopeful about your future.

Beautiful book in mint condition. HB. 195pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.

Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp.

Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country.

Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the 'happiest man on earth'.

Published as Eddie turns 100, this is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.

About the Author

Eddie Jaku OAM, was born Abraham Jakubowicz in Germany in 1920. In World War 2, Eddie was imprisoned in Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps. In 1945, he was sent on a 'death march' but escaped. Finally, he was rescued by Allied soldiers. In 1950 he moved with family to Australia where he has lived since. Eddie has volunteered at the Sydney Jewish Museum since its inception in 1992. Edie has been married to Flore for 74 years. They have two sons, grandchildren and great grandchildren. In 2020 Eddie celebrates his 100th birthday.

Let's not forget the end-of-financial year sale!!

In case you wish to 

find out about 

how you can save 

more $$ of our 

already cheap books

basically take $5 off the marked price off every book and order before close of business, 30 June 2021. 

How do you order? E-mail your order to sydneylawyers@gmail.com. Make sure you include a postal address. I will then contact you to arrange payment and delivery.

(p.s. I can make Indian and Scottish cheapness jokes because:

* my parents were born in Delhi

* my step daughter is one quarter Scottish

* some of my closest friends are Scottish!!)

Exposing the best-kept secrets of the airline industry

 

Mint condition. PB. 416pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

A mile-high journey through the best kept secrets of the airline industry

Heard the one about the airline that has introduced 'corpse cupboards' on new planes to cope with the number of people who die in the air? Heard the story about the First Class air hostess who got fired for sitting on the face of a passenger during a long haul flight? Heard about the amount of knickers and false teeth that are left behind in the body of the plane? Heard how pissed-off stewards put laxatives in your drinks? Heard about the pilot who ran out of runway? Heard of the disabled passengers who miraculously walk again?

No? Then you haven't read Air Babylon.

Do you know the best place to have sex on a plane? Do you know how to dress for an upgrade? Do you know that one drink in the air equals three on the ground? Do you know who is checking you in? Who is checking you out? Do you know exactly what happens to your luggage once it leaves your sight? Is it secure? Are you safe? Do you really know anything about the business that you entrust your life to several times a year?

Air Babylon is a trawl through the highs, the lows, and the rapid descents of the travel industry. It catalogues the births, the deaths, the drunken brawls, the sexual antics, and the debauchery behind the scenes of the ultimate service industry - where the world is divided into those who wear the uniform and those who don't...

Bitchy, bolshy and fun * Refresh *
Lifts the lid on the airline industry, the scams, the hedonistic lifestyle of the staff and the treatment of the passengers * Bath Chronicle *
A shocking but fantastic book that should be read before you go on holiday! * Star Magazine *
For real life debauchery, the perfect in-flight read (or maybe not...) has to be Air Babylon * What's On *
Lifts the lid on what cabin-crews really get up to in the galley * Esquire *

SOLD Farming in Sri Lanka

 

SOLD

Excellent condition. PB. 295pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

BBC journalist and environmentalist Rory Spowers wanted to finally live his dream and abandon life in London for a more ecologically sustainable lifestyle.

Moving with his wife and two toddler sons to a 60-acre abandoned tea estate in Sri Lanka, Rory sets out to create a model organic farm there and earn his livelihood from the land.

The fascinating story begins with the tsunami and Rory's sudden involvement with the relief efforts, and charts the course of his adventures over 12 months culminating in the launch of his new business (making a living by selling the produce he grows).

It chronicles the highs and lows of this radical change, and reveals what it takes to live a sustainable life.

It will also include tips for those of you who wish to live a more environmentally friendly life.

Spowers' writing in 'Three Men on a Bike', which recounted his story of buying the Goodies' bicycle and riding it across Africa for charity, was compared with Bryson, Palin and Hawks' for his storytelling, humour and intrepid spirit.

Spowers' narrative brims with adventure, harrowing moments, and small triumphs as he comes to know the people and the land and works toward creating his dream of a sustainable, model forest garden.

A book about Twenty-20 cricket

 

Mint condition. PB. 240pp. $18 including postage anywhere in Australia.

The rise of the Twenty20 cricket tournament always promised change, and in this invaluable behind-the-scenes view of this groundbreaking new event, former Australian Cricket Team coach John Buchanan traces the shift from the One Day International format through to the Twenty20 World Cup and announcement of the Indian Premiere League. 

It explains in detail the forces at work behind the format shift and explores the cause of the loss of support for the ODI format and country versus country cricket. 

It also charts the rise of the Indian power brokers and demonstrates how they have come to be in such a dominant position in the world of cricket.

Feeling optimistic about Australia

 

Mint condition. PB. 304pp. $25 including postage anywhere in Australia.

At a time when politics seems increasingly negative and our society increasingly divided, Still Lucky shows that we are more fortunate than we think, and have more in common than we know.

Rebecca Huntley, one of Australia’s most experienced and knowledgeable social researchers, wants to break through all the noise and make you feel better about this country and the people around you. Our politicians are becoming more conservative, both in their policies and their ambitions for the country, but the Australian people – almost all of us – want to see real social change. We are more generous and more progressive, and more alike, than we think we are – and we are better than our day-today political discourse would suggest.

Huntley has spent years travelling the country, getting to know what’s in our hearts and minds. Here she tackles the biggest social questions facing Australia now: Why do we fear asylum seekers? Why are women still underpaid and overworked? Why do we over-parent? Why do we worry even though we are lucky?

Still Lucky is a broad-ranging, wise and compelling look at who we are now and where we are heading in the future, from someone who knows what Australians are really thinking.

About the author

Dr Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia's foremost researchers on social trends. She holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in gender studies. For nearly nine years, Rebecca was at the global research firm Ipsos. From 2006 until 2015, she was the Director of the Mind & Mood Report, Australia's longest-running social trends report. She is the author of numerous books, and was a feature writer for Australian Vogue, a columnist for BRW and the presenter of Drive on a Friday on Radio National. She is on the Artistic Advisory Board of the Bell Shakespeare Company and is an adjunct senior lecturer at the School of Social Sciences at The University of New South Wales. Rebecca currently provides research counsel to Essential, an integrated research and communications agency in Australia and New Zealand.