The potentially explosive force of population growth poses questions to which the answers given by scientists of recent decades have often generated more heat than light. In this book we have an economist's approach to the problem. Professor Pitchford discusses the long-run relationships between a country's population and its economic development, exploring ways in which population policy can be directed towards improving economic welfare.

Australian English has been variously received: English visitors have called it barbarous and corrupt; Australians have seen it as a unique and distinctive national language. Dr Ramson{u2019}s study places it in the context of other branches of the English language, of which it is a natural extension.

In 1880 young Jean Baptiste Octave Mouton left Belgium and his trade as wigmaker's apprentice to better his prospects in the Pacific. With his father, a leather worker, he joined the rascally Marquis de Rays's ill-fated colonising venture in New Ireland and stayed to become a wealthy trader and copra planter. Mouton was refreshingly free of the pompous superiority of most Europeans. He was not misled by his own preconceptions but sympathised with native feelings and perceived something of the relationship of custom to the institutions of kinship and authority.

The series of studies presented in this book constitute the most detailed psychological investigation so far of Latvians anywhere in the world. It discusses the history of Latvian immigration and settlement in Australia, mental health, personality characteristics and immigrant adjustment and other aspects of the Latvian community in Australia. It will be invaluable in assisting better understanding of the problems faced by immigrants in Australia.

Australasian English - that used in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua-New Guinea - has never before been reported upon with the same clarity and depth as in this series of articles edited by Dr Ramson. Up-to-date findings in the study of vocabulary are supplemented by chapters on the interaction of English with other languages, on the speech of Australian Aborigines, migrants and Asian students, and on New Guinea Pidgin.

Henry Lawson's writings on Australia, town and bush, which helped to create the Australian legends of mateship and toughness are well known. Less is known of his experiences in New Zealand. A story 'A Daughter of Maoriland' is based on his experiences teaching at a school in Mangamaunu on one of his three visits to that country. The story shows a failure in his relations with the Maori community, in particular with one of his pupils - a girl he named August in the story. This book is a study of the reasons for Lawson's failure with the Maoris.

What has class to do with Australia - the working man{u2019}s paradise, the egalitarian society, where mate is as good as master? Dr Rickard shows that class is more relevant than most Australians would care to believe. The period 1890-1910 is a critical one in Australian history. In 1890 Australia was little more than a collection of provincially minded colonies; by 1910 it was a nation, poised to prove the fact in a European war. Those twenty years saw the emergence of the labor party and of the basic party system as we know it today.

The 'standard histories' of the various Chinese dynasties contain the official biographies of the important figures of the period. However, much additional information can be obtained from epigraphical and other material contained in the literary works of contemporary scholars. This is often scattered in bulky collections and is, therefore, not readily accessible to the historian. Dr de Rachewiltz and Miss Nakano have rendered a singular service to scholars by indexing twenty-three major collections of the Chin and Y{u00FC}an dynasties which are particularly rich in biographical records.

This last book of Professor Rowley's trilogy on Aboriginal Policy and Practice deals with the situation of the 'full-blood' Aborigines in the centre and north of Australia. The author refers to this area as 'colonial Australia', offering reasons including the restrictions on movement by the Aborigines, with the resultant emphasis on mission and government 'settlements'; the much lower wages paid to Aborigines in the area; the withholding of social service benefits which other Australians may obtain easily; and the power vested in officials and missionaries to control Aborigines.