The Ragged Thirteen: Territory Bushrangers

Biographies & Memoirs

Pugh, Derek

Historical

Derek Pugh

Escape Cliffs: The First Northern Territory Expedition 1864-66

The greatest engineering problem facing Australia - the tyranny of distance - had a solution: the electric telegraph, and its champion was the sheep-farming colony of South Australia. 
In two years, Charles Heavitree Todd, leading hundreds of men, constructed a telegraph line across the centre of the continent from Port Augusta to Darwin. At nearly 3,000 kilometres long and using 36,000 poles at '20 to the mile', it was a mammoth undertaking but in October 1872, Adelaide was finally linked to London. 
The Overland Telegraph Line crossed Aboriginal lands first seen by John McDouall Stuart just 10 years before. Messages which previously took weeks to cross the country now took hours. Passing through eleven new repeater stations and the remotest parts of Australia, the line joined the vast global telegraph network, and a new era was ushered in. 
Each station held a staff of six. They became centres of white civilization and the cattle or sheep industry and, in many places, the Aborigines were displaced. 
The unique stories of how men and women lived and/or died on the line range from heroic through desperate to tragic, but they remain an indelible part of Australia's history.\n'...a book written with heart and determination ... a lasting tribute to the inventiveness and tenacity of the people behind the planning, building and execution of the Overland Telegraph - a true nation building endeavour.' - His Excellency, The Honourable Hieu Van Le, AC.

Twenty to the Mile: The Overland Telegraph Line

"a landmark in Australian literature" - Maurice Rioli, MLA Fifteen year old Tammy Damulkurra lives in Maningrida - a remote Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land. Tammy has friends and likes the disco and thinks at last she has her first boyfriend but he cheats on her and Tammy gets into a fight with her arch enemy, Sharon. Tammy's parents send her to the outstations for several weeks to cool off and she quickly gets used to the bush and fishing and hunting with relatives. When she returns to Maningrida her love life is a mess and it's not until she leaves again for school that she realises that it's all going to be okay. Originally released in 1995 this second edition celebrates two decades of literacy education in remote communities in Australia. "a story that will strike chords with many teenagers," with a "naive quality and adolescent voice (which) makes it instantly accessible" - B Richardson First Published 1995

Tammy Damulkurra

Teen & Young Adult

Literature & Fiction

In the best tradition of Paul Theroux and J. Maarten Troost, comes Derek Pugh's torrid tale of Sumbawa, and his ascent of the iconic volcano Mt. Tambora, whose 1815 eruption did indeed change the world.   Pugh's account of the eruption and its aftermath is masterfully done - clearly the product of much dogged research through archives, scientific journals, as well as conversations with Indonesians lasting long into the steamy night.   Himself a long-time resident of the neighboring Indonesian island of Lombok, Pugh is a well-qualified tourist who also brings a wry and rollicking insider's account of local and ex-pat life along the volcanic chain of islands.   The reader meets a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, from pre-schooler jockeys, to an ancient princess alone in her decaying Sultan's palace, to brainless Western surfer dudes and their chicks who have no clue about the history of the slacker's paradise they've stumbled upon.   Pugh does a sterling job of filling that gap in Asian travel writing, as the many-layered dimensions of Sumbawan culture - their strict Islamism, great friendliness, and intermittent traumas, with the colossal Tambora looming across every page - unfold to the reader like layers of volcanic earth from a hidden Pompeii.   Gillen D'Arcy Wood, author of Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World (Princeton University Press, 2014)

Tambora

History

Asia

Fort Dundas: The British in North Australia 1824-29

Australia & Oceania

"This book is for teenagers and anyone who knows one..." 
"If you only buy one survival guide for the teenage years, make it this one..." 
"This book [is] accessible, entertaining, humorous, and equally helpful to parents and teachers" 
This updated second edition of The Owner's Guide to the Teenage Brain tells us why 'we are as we are' in the teenage years. It shows teenagers how to get the most out of these years, helps parents understand and provides tips for parents on coping with their sons and daughters as they move towards adulthood. 
Knowledge is power. Teenagers who take that power will cope better with the exciting changes and challenges that face them.

The Owner's Guide to the Teenage Brain

Parenting & Relationships

Parenting

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Books by Derek Pugh