James Knight – författare

Approaching forty, with the predictable mortgage, career and comfortable surburan lifestyle, James Knight knew he was one of the lucky ones. He loved his wife and he had his health (occasionally the black dog would bite, but he''d learnt to manage this...most of the time), yet something wasn''t quite right. Married less than a year, he and Clare weren''t finding time for each other or themselves. Surely there must be more to life than the daily commute, the occasional trip away and rampant consumerism?The death of a good friend''s mother gave James the perspective he needed to set out on a year-long journey through Latin America and Africa with Clare, doing voluntary work, learning Spanish and dancing whereever and whenever they could. This trip would change their lives in ways they never expected, teaching them that cherishing every moment is what matters above all else.

JUST DOING MY JOB is a journey into the lives of the men and women behind the uniform – the cops, firies and ambos. It is an exploration of humanity and the human spirit. Imagine what it must be like to attend a fatal accident in which you know the victim; or to pull a baby out of a fire who is dressed in the same style of pyjamas that your child wears; or to have to knock on a stranger’s door and tell a wife that her husband has been murdered, while in the background, her children are preparing for a slumber party. You may be called on to deliver a child or to help a family cope with the disappearance of a beloved son. At other times a day at work may find you chasing a naked man through a five-star resort; being escorted through a seedy establishment by a six-foot-four transvestite; or assisting a drunken woman who has somehow fallen into a shopping trolley and become stuck. Every day there is a possibility of being shot at, spat at, punched, verbally abused, or hugged and cheered … The diversity of situations and emotions is surely as great as any person in any line of work ever experiences. JUST DOING MY JOB tells the stories of the unsung heroes of our emergency services. Those who are just doing their job, protecting us, saving us, serving us. Most of us see nothing more than the uniform. These are snapshots of lives and events that will give the reader a better understanding of the men and women behind the uniform.

In the tradition of Mailman of the Birdsville Track, The Man from Coolibah details the life of outback cattle property owner, helicopter muster operator and knockabout bloke Milton Jones.The youngest in a family of five, Milton Jones grew up on large properties in the outback. His father was a farm manager and so his early life was a world away from that of city kids. Milton left school in Queensland in his mid teens and moved back to the Northern Territory. Mustering was in his blood and so his first job was as a bullcatcher.Milton Jones is a man of his environment; tough and hardworking with a firm opinion on most things that he isn’t afraid to share. The story of how he bought Coolibah Station in 1988 in cash and the way he has built up his country empire is just one element of this book. For him, wrangling crocs, mustering cattle, fighting bush fires and riding rodeo are the norm. Over 500 km away from nearest city, Darwin, his life is lived on horseback, his days ruled by the sunlight. With the help of a seasonal workforce, plus his 42 choppers and a dozen or so horses, his business musters cattle from across the territory.The Man from Coolibah shows us what it is like to live in the never never and brings the Outback to life. For the men and women who live in Milton’s world, things are changing but the harshness and beauty of the outback stays the same.

The fascinating lives and turbulent times of Henry Lawson and Andrew ''Banjo'' Paterson - the two men who wrote Australia''s story.Today most of us know that Henry Lawson and Andrew ''Banjo'' Paterson were famous writers. We know about Matilda, Clancy of the Overflow and the Man from Snowy River; The Drover''s Wife, While the Billy Boils and Joe Wilson and his mates, but little else. Here, in a compelling and engaging work, James Knight brings Henry and Banjo''s own stories to life. And there is much to tell.Both were country born, just three years and three hundred kilometres apart, Henry on the goldfields of Grenfell and Banjo on a property near Orange, but their paths to literary immortality took very different routes - indeed at times their lives were ones of savage and all too tragic contrasts. Banjo, born into a life of comparative privilege, would rise from country boy to Sydney Grammar student, solicitor, journalist, war correspondent and revered man about town. Henry''s formal education only began when his feminist mother finally won her battle for a local school but illness and subsequent deafness would make continuing his lessons difficult, seeing him find work as a labourer, a coach painter and a journalist, all the while wrestling with poverty, alcoholism and mental illness. Both men would become household names during their lifetimes. Both would have regrets.Henry and Banjo details two incredibly fascinating lives and delves into the famous (and not so famous) writings of the two men who had the power to influence and change Australia.

After fleeing their homeland, Australian refugee policies threaten to tear this young couple apart. An unforgettable story of love, hope and a quest for freedom.At seventeen, all Mojgan Shamsalipoor wanted was to be safe from physical and sexual abuse, go to school, and to eventually marry for love. In Iran, she was denied all of this.Milad Jafari was a shy teenage boy who found his voice as a musician. But the rap music he loved was illegal in his country. All Milad''s father, a key maker, builder and shopkeeper, wanted was for his family to live free from the fear of arrest, imprisonment or execution. To do that they all had to flee Iran.Mojgan and Milad met in Australia. But in the months between their separate sea voyages, the Australian government changed the way asylum seekers were treated. Though Milad is recognised as a refugee and will soon become a proud Australian citizen, Mojgan has been told she cannot stay here even though the threat of imprisonment and further abuse, or worse, means she can''t return to Iran.UNDER THE SAME SKY, is a powerful insight into the human face of asylum seekers and the the way history has shaped the lives of these two young people. It also shows the compassion alive in our suburbs. For Mojgan and Milad, their love keeps their hopes alive.

As a kid, Bernie Shakeshaft''s mischievous and reckless behaviour led him to became known as the wild one of his devout Catholic family. It isn''t surprising that his path led him to the Northern Territory, a place where people often go to either lose themselves or find themselves. Bernie, a searcher for his purpose in life, found himself.He had many jobs, firstly as a ringer on a cattle station owned by the Packer family, and later as a dingo trapper for the Parks and Wildlife Service. Throughout it all, he drank, he swore, he fought, and took chances with his own well-being. But, crucially, he also developed deep connections with the Indigenous people, and it was these connections that helped lay the foundations for what was to come. He worked for youth welfare organisations, and all the while he built up his knowledge about helping wayward youths, particularly those from Indigenous communities.Years later, Bernie was living in Armidale. He''d been visiting too many kids in prison and going to too many funerals. The usual methods weren''t working so that reckless, mischievous kid inside him decided he could do better. He started a youth program called BackTrack, with three aims: To keep them alive, out of jail and chasing their hopes and dreams. For most, this was their last chance. Combining life skills, education, job preparedness with rural work, Bernie threw in one other factor: dogs! And it works. With the help of these working dogs, the lost boys (and girls) find their way back on track. These days, Backtrack youth tour the country competing in dog-jumping trials. Bernie and the BackTrack team are now supporting other communities in Lake Cargelligo, Broken Hill, Dubbo and Grafton and have forged a new beginning for over 1000 young people. This one man is making a huge difference.In Back on Track, bestselling author James Knight tells Bernie''s story and the stories of those whose lives he has saved. It is a powerful reminder that we should never give up on our kids.''This fella Bernie, he''s a good fella, a bit of a genius really. What a great story.'' - Russell Crowe

Between 1737 and 1746, James Knight—a merchant, planter, and sometime Crown official and legislator in Jamaica—wrote a massive two-volume history of the island. The first volume provided a narrative of the colony’s development up to the mid-1740s, while the second offered a broad survey of most aspects of Jamaican life as it had developed by the third and fourth decades of the eighteenth century. Completed not long before his death in the winter of 1746–47 and held in the British Library, this work is now published for the first time. Well researched and intelligently critical, Knight’s work is not only the most comprehensive account of Jamaica’s ninety years as an English colony ever written; it is also one of the best representations of the provincial mentality as it had emerged in colonial British America between the founding of Virginia and 1750. Expertly edited and introduced by renowned scholar Jack Greene, this volume represents a colonial Caribbean history unique in its contemporary perspective, detail, and scope.