Australian Classics Library – serie

John Shaw Neilson (1872-1942) is Australia's great lyric poet. A new introduction by Dr Helen Hewson explores some of the influences which have shaped Neilson's poetry.

Bush Studies (1902) is a collection of short stories that explore the dark side of the Australian bush experience: loneliness, isolation and danger. The stories, often depicting female suffering, are grimly realistic, in contrast to the masculine romantic notions of the outback as represented by Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. All six stories in Bush Studies deal with the great themes of birth and death, although only 'Bush Church' renders its theme as comedy, with its disorderly scenes of a church service and multiple christenings gone awry. This new edition of Bush Studies, with an introduction by Susan Sheridan, is a part of the Australian Classics Library series, which is intended to make classic texts of Australian literature more widely available for secondary school and undergraduate university classrooms, and for the general reader. The series is co-edited by Emeritus Professor Bruce Bennett of the University of New South Wales and Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with SETIS, Sydney University Press, AustLit and the Copyright Agency Limited.

The Moods of Ginger Mick is a collection of poems about Ginger Mick, the larrikin hero of Gallipoli. On its release it was described by the Bulletin as'finely patriotic' and 'uniquely Australian'. It articulates the Anzac legend through the verses about Mick's feats in the Dardenelles and its values of courage, mateship, nationalism and sacrifice.This new edition of The Moods of Ginger Mick, with an introduction by Philip Butterss, is a part of the Australian Classics Library series intended to make classic texts of Australian literature more widely available for the secondary school and undergraduate university classroom, and to the general reader. The series is co-edited by Emeritus Professor Bruce Bennett of the University of New South Wales and Professor Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with SETIS, Sydney University Press, AustLit and the Copyright Agency Limited. Each text is accompanied by a fresh scholarly introduction and a basic editorial apparatus drawn from the resources of AustLit.

With an introduction by Cheryl Taylor.Tales of the Austral Tropics (1894) is a collection of short stories published in the Sydney Bulletin in the 1890s. Set in tropical northern Australia, Favenc brings to life the half-unknown and mysterious regions of this part of Australia at this time. The tales exude themes of the bush and bring together elements of the sensational and supernatural that are characteristic of Favenc's work. This is one of a number of works that have earned him a place in Australian literary history.This new edition of Tales of the Austral Tropics, with an introduction by Cheryl Taylor, is a part of the Australian Classics Library series intended to make classic texts of Australian literature more widely available for the secondary school and undergraduate university classroom, and to the general reader. The series is co-edited by Emeritus Professor Bruce Bennett of the University of New South Wales and Professor Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with SETIS, Sydney University Press, AustLit and the Copyright Agency Limited. Each text is accompanied by a fresh scholarly introduction and a basic editorial apparatus drawn from the resources of AustLit.

Introduction by Andrew McCann.The Workingman's Paradise is set in the context of the defeat of the shearer's and maritime strikes of the early 1890's. The novel is essential reading for an appreciation of the context of the rise of the union movement in Australia.This new edition of The Workingman's Paradise, with an introduction by Andrew McCann, is a part of the Australian Classics Library series intended to make classic texts of Australian literature more widely available for the secondary school and undergraduate university classroom, and to the general reader. The series is co-edited by Emeritus Professor Bruce Bennett of the University of New South Wales and Professor Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with SETIS, Sydney University Press, AustLit and the Copyright Agency Limited. Each text is accompanied by a fresh scholarly introduction and a basic editorial apparatus drawn from the resources of AustLit.William Lane was born in Bristol, England in 1861, and died in Auckland, New Zealand in 1917. In 1885 he migrated to Australia settling in Brisbane and working as a journalist for several newspapers. He became increasingly involved in the trade union movement, advocating the "New Unionism" extension of the movement into non-skilled, non-craft areas to form a united body of the working class. He was influential in the formation of the Queensland Australian Labour Federation (ALF). When the ALF formed a new paper, The Worker, Lane became the editor, and aimed to direct the union movement beyond strictly wage and employment concerns to a wider political program of socialism. Following recession and the defeat of many union campaigns Lane worked to establish a communist utopian settlements in Paraguay in 1893. He wrote using a number of pseudonyms, including "John Miller" for The Workingman's Paradise.

Joe Wilson and His Mates (1901) is a collection of many of Lawson's most celebrated classic Australian short stories. Lawson's darkly realistic work includes all four stories of Joe Wilson, a sheep shearer suffering from drinking problems and the hardship of the bush. Along the bleaker tales are more 'humorous' takes on bush life, including 'The Loaded Dog', 'The Golden Graveyard' and 'Jimmy Grimshaw's Wooing'.

The Man from Snowy River and other Verses was published in 1895 and contains many of Paterson's most famous works, including the title poem which is regarded as one of the quintessential national narratives. Among other poems, the work includes "Clancy of the Overflow", "How Gilbert Died", "A Bush Christening", "In Defence of the Bush" and "The Man from Ironbark". This new edition of The Man from Snowy River and other Verses, with an introduction by Peter Kirkpatrick, is a part of the Australian Classics Library series intended to make classic texts of Australian literature more widely available for the secondary school and undergraduate university classroom, and to the general reader. The series is co-edited by Emeritus Professor Bruce Bennett of the University of New South Wales and Professor Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with SETIS, Sydney University Press, AustLit and the Copyright Agency Limited. Each text is accompanied by a fresh scholarly introduction and a basic editorial apparatus drawn from the resources of AustLit. A.B. (Andrew Barton) Paterson (1864-1941) was born near Orange in New South Wales and achieved fame as a short story, ballad and legend writer, drawing on his experiences growing up near Yass. He is the major folk poet of Australian literature, publishing many books of verse, short stories and two novels.

Tales of the Early Days (1894) is a collection of historical tales primarily concerned with the social abuses of the convict system of early Australia, such as 'Secret Society of the Ring', set in the penal colony of Norfolk Island. Warung's stories are filled with imaginative truth and 'symbolic veracity', though he draws on documentary fact and social realism.This new edition of Tales of the Early Days, with an introduction by Laurie Hergenhan, is a part of the Australian Classics Library series intended to make classic texts of Australian literature more widely available for the secondary school and undergraduate university classroom, and to the general reader. The series is co-edited by Emeritus Professor Bruce Bennett of the University of New South Wales and Professor Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with SETIS, Sydney University Press, AustLit and the Copyright Agency Limited. Each text is accompanied by a fresh scholarly introduction and a basic editorial apparatus drawn from the resources of AustLit.

A timeless narrative of suspense and intrigue, Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886) is the original Australian best-selling crime novel set in pre-Federation Melbourne.