The History of Ballarat

 

William Bramwell Withers (1823–1913) was a journalist, historian, and long-time Ballarat resident who became one of the first chroniclers of Victoria’s gold rush. His book, The History of Ballarat, From the First Pastoral Settlement to the Present Time, was first serialized in the Ballarat Star in 1870 and later expanded into book form, with a revised edition published in 1887. The work remains a foundational text for understanding Ballarat’s transformation from pastoral outpost to thriving gold city. Withers’ research is built from first-hand interviews, local records, and personal recollections of pioneers. The result is both a historical record and a living portrait of the gold era as it was remembered by those who shaped it.

The book traces Ballarat’s evolution from its early European settlement through to the explosive discovery of gold in 1851, the social upheavals that followed, and the city’s eventual growth into a symbol of Victorian prosperity. Withers combines documented fact with local oral history, giving the reader a vivid sense of what life was like in Ballarat’s formative decades. His writing reflects the style of the 19th century—richly descriptive, moral in tone, and unapologetically focused on the settler experience.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being (2023) is less of a prescriptive “how-to” manual and more a philosophical meditation on what creativity means, how it works, and how we can live more creative lives. Rubin draws from decades of work producing music across very different genres, and mixes in ideas from mindfulness, presence, and observation. Key ideas:

• Everyone is creative; creativity isn’t a gift reserved only for “artists” or special talent.  
• Creativity is a way of being, not just an act; it involves how we perceive, how present we are, how we allow experience to flow into our work.  
• The role of presence, attention, sensitivity: paying more attention to what draws us, to subtle feeling tones, small everyday details, as opposed to just ideation or output.  
• Working with fear, resistance, imperfection—the idea that part of being creative is moving through self-doubt, messing around, making early drafts, embracing failure.  
• The importance of constraints (limits, boundaries) to focus creativity.  

The Fatal Shore

Robert Hughes ‘The Fatal Shore’ remains the definitive account of Australia’s convict beginnings. With prose as vivid as any novel, Hughes recreates the epic voyages of the First Fleet and the brutal realities of transportation. His gift lies in bringing ships, landscapes, and lives to life, weaving political history with personal voices from journals and letters. While some critics note its romanticism and limited Indigenous perspective, it remains unmatched for readability and atmosphere. For anyone interested in how exile by sea shaped a nation, The Fatal Shore is essential—a history that feels as immediate as story.

The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture

 

Rebecca L. Spang’s The Invention of the Restaurant isn’t just about restaurants—it’s about what happens when food stops being survival and starts becoming story.

Focusing on late 18th- and early 19th-century Paris, Spang shows how the restaurant emerged not merely as a place to eat, but as a social stage, a democratic ritual, and a new form of public life. In the wake of the French Revolution, as monarchies fell and markets rose, people began to crave not just nourishment—but civility, comfort, and a sense of identity. The restaurant became their theatre.

Spang weaves historical records, menus, pamphlets, and first-person accounts into a tapestry of change:

• From communal mess halls to personal menu choices
• From royal kitchens to entrepreneurial chefs
• From obligation to pleasure

For readers interested in how architecture, service, and social aspiration intersect, this book is a revelation. It’s academic, yes, but never dull. Spang writes with both rigour and flair, treating menus and meal customs as artifacts of personal and political revolution.

The Story of Kent

 

Anne Petrie’s The Story of Kent is a richly illustrated history that explores life in Kent from the earliest times to the modern day. The book recounts pivotal moments in the county’s history, including invasions by Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans. It also covers significant events such as the Black Death, the Peasants’ Revolt, the Swing Riots, and the suffragette movement’s activities in Kent. The narrative extends to contemporary issues, discussing challenges faced by traditional industries and the transformation of cross-Channel travel .

Petrie, who holds an MA in History and has chaired the Hythe Local History Group, brings her expertise in social and family history to the forefront, offering readers an engaging and authoritative account of Kent’s past .

Australia’s Immigrants

 

Geoffrey Sherington’s Australia’s Immigrants is a clear, concise, and well-researched exploration of one of the most defining aspects of modern Australia: its people and their origins. In this accessible yet thoughtful account, Sherington charts the waves of migration that have transformed Australia from a British colonial outpost into a richly multicultural society.

Originally published in 1980 and updated in subsequent editions, the book skillfully balances demographic analysis with social and political history. Sherington avoids abstract theorizing, instead anchoring his narrative in real-world events — from post-war reconstruction and the “populate or perish” imperative to the influx of Asian migrants in the late 20th century and debates over multiculturalism.

What distinguishes this work is Sherington’s even-handed tone. He acknowledges the opportunities immigration has brought — economic growth, cultural vibrancy, labour force expansion — while not ignoring the tensions and challenges, such as racism, assimilation pressures, and political backlash. His treatment of immigration policy, particularly the dismantling of the White Australia Policy and the rise of multicultural policy frameworks, is especially insightful.

Though the book is somewhat dated in light of more recent developments — including debates over asylum seekers, refugee intake, and border security — it remains an invaluable primer for students, educators, and general readers seeking to understand how migration has shaped Australia’s national identity.

A Time of Gifts

 

Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts is a masterclass in the genre. Written decades after the journey it chronicles—his walk across Europe beginning in 1933—this book is far more than a travelogue. It’s a richly layered memoir that fuses youthful exuberance with mature insight, blending art, history, and language into a vivid portrait of a continent on the brink of change.

At 18, Fermor set out from the Hook of Holland, on foot, bound for Constantinople with a backpack, a few letters of introduction, and an insatiable curiosity. But it’s the reflective voice of the older Fermor, writing in hindsight, that transforms the narrative from travel diary to literary memoir. This is a book written not just about places, but about what those places stirred in him—and what they may still stir in us.

Fermor’s prose is famously rich and occasionally baroque, but never dull. His gift lies in his ability to telescope between the detail of a carved cornice in a monastery and the sweep of European history unfolding between the wars. One moment he’s describing Hungarian horsemen galloping across the plains, the next he’s meditating on classical literature, art, or architecture. Through it all, the journey becomes more than physical—it’s spiritual, intellectual, and deeply personal.

A Time of Gifts is also a reminder of what memoir can be when it transcends the personal and embraces the cultural. Fermor invites us to see the world as layered with meaning—where past and present, the self and the stranger, are constantly in dialogue.

For anyone writing a travel-inspired memoir or reflecting on the long arc of their life, this book is not just recommended—it’s essential. It teaches us that memory, like travel, is never linear, and that the richest stories come not from the destination, but from the details along the way.

Patrick Leigh Fermor’s trilogy is a beautifully written blend of memoir, travel, and European history, told with hindsight and remarkable literary flair:

1. A Time of Gifts (1977)

Covers: December 1933 – early 1934

Route: The Netherlands to the Middle Danube (Germany, Austria, Slovakia)

The first in Fermor’s legendary trilogy. At 18, he sets off alone on foot to walk from Holland to Constantinople. This volume introduces us to a pre-war Europe—its art, architecture, and people—seen through the eyes of a young man, but reflected on by the wiser voice of his older self. The prose is lush, the insights layered, and the historical foreshadowing haunting.

2. Between the Woods and the Water (1986)

Covers: Spring 1934 – late summer 1934

Route: From the Danube in Slovakia through Hungary and Romania, toward the Iron Gates on the Bulgarian border

The second volume continues the journey deeper into Eastern Europe. Fermor encounters Hungarian aristocrats, Roma villages, Orthodox monasteries, and Balkan folklore, all described in his unmistakably rich and reflective style. The tone shifts slightly here—deeper, more philosophical—as he enters lands shadowed by the coming war.

3. The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos (Posthumous, 2013)

Covers: Final stretch—through Bulgaria and into Greece (Mount Athos)

Edited by: Artemis Cooper and Colin Thubron

Fermor never finished the final installment in his lifetime, but left behind detailed manuscripts. This third volume completes the journey to Constantinople (Istanbul), ending in the monastic landscapes of Mount Athos. Though more fragmented in style, it still offers bursts of his trademark poetic reflections and a sense of spiritual arrival.