Tony Taylor – författare

Warmones, hormones, and conscience compete for the souls of young pilots in the VietNam war. An air combat tale of whimsical intelligence and vivid realism.

Its 1967 in DaNang, Vietnam, as new pilot Steve Mylder reports for duty to his fighter squadron and meets fellow pilot Avery Aughton. Avery is cocky, unbearably patriotic, and outrageously successful with women -- everything Steve is not! Yet they become friends as they drink together at the DOOM Club bar and learn the ropes of air combat together. As they dogfight in the air, their mutual friend Sub-Lieutenant Sam the Collie -- who thinks hes a fighter pilot too -- parallels their war by dogfighting on the ground against his rival Charlie, a junkyard mutt.

Steve, unenthusiastic about the war, fights for his life in the skies over North Vietnam but battles for his soul against the Red Baron of his nightmares. Avery -- master of the art of combat seduction -- acquires a measure of humility as he thunders fifty feet over a North Vietnamese beach, looks down and locks eyes with an improbable bikini-clad woman and falls into hopeless love. Both pilots seem on-track to survive their tours of duty when Avery is shot down and Steve has to face himself -- balancing imagination against reality -- in the aftermath ofa rescue attempt.

In Counters, former air force pilot Tony Taylor weaves whimsical humor and authentic details of air combat into a brooding yet fanciful tapestry, illuminating the hormones and warmones that impel young men to war and stupidity.

Dead White Males: "Triumphant...The neatly lined up ducks of academic absolutism are ruthlessly, and hilariously, assassinated" - Sydney Morning Herald; "Swain is a wonderful creation" - GuardianThe 7 Stages of Grieving: "A subtle and complex invitation to experience something of the depth of Aboriginal grieving" - Melbourne Age.Hotel Sorrento: "Has a moody, evocative, literary sweep and scope to it" - Sydney Morning HeraldTwo: In 1948, in a German town, Anna comes to Rabbi Chaim Levi for Hebrew lessons. As the two study the language, their stories are gradually revealed, raising fundamental moral questions as they try to reconcile their tormented pasts and accept and renew their lives.The Popular Mechanicals: "One of the most rollickingly entertaining nights in the theatre" (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dead White Males: "Triumphant...The neatly lined up ducks of academic absolutism are ruthlessly, and hilariously, assassinated" - Sydney Morning Herald; "Swain is a wonderful creation" - GuardianThe 7 Stages of Grieving: "A subtle and complex invitation to experience something of the depth of Aboriginal grieving" - Melbourne Age.Hotel Sorrento: "Has a moody, evocative, literary sweep and scope to it" - Sydney Morning HeraldTwo: In 1948, in a German town, Anna comes to Rabbi Chaim Levi for Hebrew lessons. As the two study the language, their stories are gradually revealed, raising fundamental moral questions as they try to reconcile their tormented pasts and accept and renew their lives.The Popular Mechanicals: "One of the most rollickingly entertaining nights in the theatre" (Sydney Morning Herald)

Eric Hoffer Book Awards First Place for Commercial Fiction

Visionary and satiric. Two astronomers discover an asteroid: Death is possible -- will it hit? Strong doses of romance, science, religion and sex . . . with some ballet thrown in for good measure.

A courageous and visionary work an instant classic--BlueInk Reviews

From IndieReader Reviews:

Two astronomers discover an asteroid on a potential collision course with Earth.

Harris Mitchel and Diana Muse are old friends and scientific rivals, but when they jointly discover a new asteroid, which they name Baby, their lives are upended for good. Harriss wife Jennifer is growing increasingly frustrated with his dedication to work over marriage. A fundamentalist minister with money troubles hopes to boost his ministry by taking public exception to Mitchels advocacy of science as a new frontier and a new inspiration -- and a conservative radio personality is stoking the fight for his audiences amusement. A New Age community views Mitchel as a new prophet. But the stakes are higher than any of them realize, since Baby appears to be on a collision course with Earth. Can Harris and Diana manage to save the world as well as their own personal lives?

The Darkest Side of Saturn manages to play with the religion-science divide in a truly thought-provoking and entertaining fashion. Mitchels inspired and dramatic view of science and discovery as the meaning and purpose of human existence is shown not only from his perspective, but refracted through the viewpoints of others, whether Dianas intelligent pragmatism, the cynical whats-in-it-for-me attitude of politicians and administrators, the angry fundamentalist reaction of the Rev. Farnsworth, or the mystical, but somewhat scatterbrained, devotion of his New Age true believers. The writing is both poetically lyrical and driven, full of energy and force, especially when the topic is either science or sex. Rapier-sharp verbal fencing and a snarky, witty sense of humor brighten the book. The romance is feisty, vigorous, and sensual, with electricity vividly present from the beginning of the novel. The ending offers a fascinating perspective on the whole, combining both scientific awe and mystical philosophy in a new and intriguing way.

The Darkest Side of Saturn is a mischievous, playful, and intelligent look at human consciousness, science, religion, inspiration and truth.

The book is entitled History Wars in the Classroom: Global Perspectives and examines how ten separate countries have experienced debates and disputes over the contested nature of the subject, for example the ''Black Armband'' and ''Whitewash'' factions in Australia who adopt opposingly celebratory or denigratory views of Australian history, especially when evaluating episodes of poor racial relations. There are also tensions between traditional/patriotic views of history teaching and reformed or ''new'' history. There are issues of political control of the curriculum and parallel issues of who writes it (very topical in England at the moment over two expat ''big picture'' historians who work at Harvard and Columbia (Niall Ferguson and Simon Schama)).