Sheep and their wool, the strong backbone that helped colonial Australia walk upright, have a proud place in Australian hearts and in the national record. But the romance of wool has often shrouded the hard facts, and the myths developed by and around the pioneers have distorted an important story. John Garran, sheep-breeder and historian, was convinced that the history written from the study chair be corrected from the farm. He brought a critical eye, practical experience and a great interest in genetics to tracing the origins and development of sheep in Australia.

A flexible social system with a monetised economy and many of the features of a modern capitalistic society is unusual among underdeveloped peoples. Such a system existed among the Tolai of New Britain long before European contact, though at the same time they were a primitive, cannibalistic people. In the last seventy years they have come to be regarded as the most advanced and sophisticated people in the whole of New Guinea.

This book on Fiji provides a fascinating case study of planning in which the small scale and isolation of the economy enables major issues to be seen in almost laboratory-like clarity. In particular it throws light on problems of a multi-racial society in which some important economic and political roles are racially differentiated, and it illustrates the special difficulties of modernisation and growth where a major component in an economy is affluent by reason of a subsistent agriculture that does not earn a monetary income.

Before the First World War most Australians shared the emotions and traditions of the British Empire. Proud of their British heritage, anxious to raise the Imperial status of Australia, they were eager to fight and, if need be, to die in defence of their race and country. But the horror and tragedy of the conflict brought fundamental changes in outlook. Many of the pre-war enthusiasms persisted, but the days of unquestioning allegiance to Empire were beginning to come to an end, to be replaced by the bittersweet tradition of Anzac. Dr Gammage shows how and why these changes took place.

Despite a growing body of literature on reform and revolution in late Qing China relatively little has been written about the New Army and its role in the Revolution of 1911. This book fills the gap with a description of the military reform which led to the establishment of the New Army and the relationships of the New Army with the social order. The book also investigates a previously neglected area, the disaffection of the army and its direct contribution to the revolution.

This book presents the first organised and comprehensive study of public finances in Malaya and Singapore. It not only brings together statistical and descriptive material which at present is available only from a large number of sources but also subjects this material to much critical analysis. In addition, far-reaching but constructive recommendations are made concerning government policies in this area for the two countries.

This is the first book about Chinese ceramics written by an Australian in co-operation with a long-time resident of China. Wanda Garnsey, through her long friendship with Rewi Alley, had access to up-to-date information not readily available to others. The book describes the search for historical facts relating to the long and sustained cultural growth of the Chinese people now being undertaken in China and the continuing manufacture of objects of beauty.