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SCRIMGEOUR, Gavin

Dec 18, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Design, History, History showcase, Military, South Australia
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ISBN 978-1-922527-50-9
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From Here They Marched

THE MITCHAM AIF CAMP, LOCATED IN WHAT IS NOW THE ADELAIDE SUBURB OF COLONEL LIGHT GARDENS, WAS THE TRAINING GROUND FOR THOUSANDS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEERS WHO ENLISTED TO FIGHT FOR THE AIF IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

The camp, opened in bare paddocks in early 1915 after earlier camps had proved inadequate, overcame significant early difficulties to become what was proudly claimed to be ‘the model camp for the Commonwealth’.

From Here They Marched tells the story of the camp and how men from all walks of civilian life were brought together and prepared for the discipline of military life and for war.

It shows how the military authorities approached the task of also meeting the physical and social needs of as many as 4400 men at a time, all newly away from their home and families, and facing an uncertain future.

The surviving memories of those who passed through the camp, newspaper reports, the few remaining documents from the camp, and contemporary photographs are used to bring this vibrant, ever changing community of men to life.

The part played by other military training camps in and near Adelaide which were used for short periods during the war is also described. This includes the Morphettville and Ascot Park/Oaklands camps where the men of the earliest contingents did their training before taking part in the landings at Gallipoli.

Mitcham camp is an important part of the historic landscape of Adelaide, and the final chapter presents a case for the preservation of the memory of the camp in Colonel Light Gardens.

DANVERS, Ron

Dec 17, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Adelaide, Australian, History, History Showcase, Military, South Australia

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ISBN 978-1-923443-01-3
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1837 Colonel Light’s Vision for Adelaide

 

Postulation and Testing a Preemptive Model Plan Adapted by Light for the Capital of South Australia

Colonel William Light’s history has been the subject of several admirable publications, but none have satisfactorily addressed the method he used in designing, surveying and laying out the plan of the City of Adelaide on the topography of the site chosen on December 31, 1836. Although evidence supports there being a preemptive Model Plan produced in London before that date, the connection has generally been missed on how such a plan, following the pattern of many colonial antecedents, could have been simply cut up to fi t the topography of the chosen site.

In postulating the form a Model Plan might have taken by reverse engineering the final plan, it becomes obvious that this was the method used by Light to lay out the plan of the Capital. It was not done in a week from January 3, 1837 as Stretton suggested, but by February 7 the basic cutting up had been formulated and sketched by Light from Green Hill.

About the Author

 

Ron Danvers LFRAIA is an architect living in the City of Adelaide in South Australia. He was instrumental in introducing urban design to South Australia, becoming the founding Chair of the State Urban Design Advisory Panel. Although he has undertaken major cultural heritage projects in Malaysia and Indonesia, most of his architectural work has been in the City of Adelaide.

He was awarded the RAIA Lachlan Macquarie Award and a National Trust Australian Heritage Award in 1987 for restoration of the Mortlock Library. In 2005, his architecture practice was awarded a UNESCO Asia Pacifi c Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation for heritage adaptation of the Treasury Buildings in Victoria Square. He was President of the RAIA SA Chapter 1988-90, representing the architectural profession at that time in the South Australian State Planning Review. He was granted the adjunct title of Associate Professor by the University of Adelaide.

ISBN 978-1-923443-01-3
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1837 Colonel Light’s Vision for Adelaide

 

Postulation and Testing a Preemptive Model Plan Adapted by Light for the Capital of South Australia

Little Book of Big Book Marketing Tips book cover

Colonel William Light’s history has been the subject of several admirable publications, but none have satisfactorily addressed the method he used in designing, surveying and laying out the plan of the City of Adelaide on the topography of the site chosen on December 31, 1836. Although evidence supports there being a preemptive Model Plan produced in London before that date, the connection has generally been missed on how such a plan, following the pattern of many colonial antecedents, could have been simply cut up to fi t the topography of the chosen site.

In postulating the form a Model Plan might have taken by reverse engineering the final plan, it becomes obvious that this was the method used by Light to lay out the plan of the Capital. It was not done in a week from January 3, 1837 as Stretton suggested, but by February 7 the basic cutting up had been formulated and sketched by Light from Green Hill.

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About the Author

 

Ron Danvers LFRAIA is an architect living in the City of Adelaide in South Australia. He was instrumental in introducing urban design to South Australia, becoming the founding Chair of the State Urban Design Advisory Panel. Although he has undertaken major cultural heritage projects in Malaysia and Indonesia, most of his architectural work has been in the City of Adelaide.

He was awarded the RAIA Lachlan Macquarie Award and a National Trust Australian Heritage Award in 1987 for restoration of the Mortlock Library. In 2005, his architecture practice was awarded a UNESCO Asia Pacifi c Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation for heritage adaptation of the Treasury Buildings in Victoria Square. He was President of the RAIA SA Chapter 1988-90, representing the architectural profession at that time in the South Australian State Planning Review. He was granted the adjunct title of Associate Professor by the University of Adelaide.

NITSCHKE, Michael

Oct 21, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Autobiography, Biography, Business, Manual \ Training Material, South Australia

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ISBN 978-1-923008-4-74
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Leading out of Loss

In a world of suit-and-tie CEOs, the leaders who wear their hearts will win

By age 30, Michael Nitschke had lived a life well beyond his years. He’d lost his mum to mental illness and his dad to cancer in quick succession. The Nitschke name, while revered in the community, carried a turbulent history with a devastating legacy.

Part-memoir, part-business wisdom, Leading Out of Loss is a coming-of-age story – of human endurance, transcendence, and alchemising suffering into success.

This searingly honest book delicately deals with grief, the cobwebs within a family lineage, divine intuition, self-reinvention, and Michael’s personal and professional epiphany: the power of vulnerability, in business and in life.

Leading Out of Loss is a testament to depth of the human spirit – and gives you the permission to lead with heart and humility, embracing vulnerability as your greatest asset.

HUGHES, Glen

Jul 25, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Poetry, South Australia

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ISBN 978-1-923443-83-9
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Down Under

 

Poems from the Australian Bush

The author’s reflections of early life experiences growing up on an isolated sheep and cattle station known as Muloorina, which lies adjacent to Lake Eyre and the Tirari Desert, all stories conveyed in verse as Bush Poetry.

A companion to Campfire Memories and Happy Campfires.

About the Author

 

It is with heartfelt pride that I present my third offering of Bush Verse, Down Under for your appreciation.

Topics are many and varied, mostly based on life experiences of topical conversation around numerous Campfires, crisscrossing the desert, touching on history, weather events and characters met along the way.

I have a deep respect for this part of the world, (The Lake Eyre Basin) that I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy for just a blink in time, and am now grateful to share my backyard, to my many readers and followers, expressing my thoughts on a life well lived, narrated in rhyme.

For those of you who wish to experience Australia’s greatest inland lake system, I encourage you to immerse yourselves in this timeless landscape to appreciate the aura that consumes your senses from this natural world of wonder!

I penned Ancient Scapes for your appreciation of my feelings, captured within the heart of the Lake, that I’ve been lucky enough to experience.

REEKS, Kerri

Jun 30, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Adelaide, Australian, Fiction \ Novel, Military, South Australia, War Fiction

cage of war by kerri reeks
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ISBN 978-1-923386-87-7
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Cage of War

Can they escape the horrors of war, or will they consume them forever?

Captured by Viet Cong in late 1960s during the Vietnam War, Australian soldier James ‘Ned’ Kelly is imprisoned in a bamboo cage in the Mekong River, with fellow captive Brady. They’re eventually ‘rescued’ by a Special CIA Covert team.

They soon discover the rescue is part of an elaborate, corrupt and clandestine war tourism operation – ‘Tiger Hunts’, where wealthy Japanese businessmen pay to hunt & kill real VC soldiers. Kelly & Brady reluctantly join the ‘Tiger Hunts’, ultimately uncovering dark & suspenseful secrets, including war crimes, political assassinations, & drug trafficking tied to the covert teams. A catastrophic ‘Tiger Hunt’ leaves Kelly, Brady, & one Japanese ‘Tiger’ as the only survivors; they’re rescued & taken to a US Hospital ship to recover.

Years later, back to Australia, Kelly is settled on a small farm in the Adelaide Hills. A deadly chain of events is sparked, targeting Kelly, his veteran friends & loved ones. The fallout threatens to also expose the surviving ‘Tiger’, now a prominent Japanese politician, & the rogue CIA operations behind the ‘Tiger Hunts’.

To stop the violence escalating, Kelly teams up with old colleagues to expose the truth, bringing the dark past to light via exposure in the international media.

Kerri Reeks author

About the author

KERRI REEKS was born in Adelaide in 1953 and spent his formative years in Broken Hill, Cockburn, and later Mount Gambier. At 18, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Army, qualifying as a Sapper in the Corps of Engineers. He trained in combat engineering, earthmoving construction, minefield clearance, and demolition-though he did not serve in Vietnam. After his military service, Kerri forged a diverse career. He became a multi-award-winning landscape gardener and later owned and operated both a restaurant and a hotel. For over 30 years, he has worked as a consultant in the oil and gas industry, travelling to more than 60 countries. During this time, he completed a Graduate Diploma and a Graduate Certificate in International Disaster Management. Drawing on his global experiences and the many cultural intersections he encountered along the way, Kerri researched and wrote Cage of War, a novel inspired by the Vietnam War. He now lives in the Adelaide Hills on a small acreage with his partner and their dog, Beau. When not consulting in the energy sector or working on his next novel, he enjoys landscaping and tending to his property.

RANKINE, Warren

Jun 30, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Adelaide, Australian, Autobiography, Biography, Memoir, South Australia

Fifteen Feet Tall by Warren Rankine
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Panelist ~ 2025 Indie Author Book Festival

ISBN 978-1-923443-66-2
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ISBN 978-1-923443-67-9
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Fifteen Feet Tall

From abandonment to belonging, an incredible life story of survival, identity and hope

Abandoned into an orphanage in the middle of the night, a two-year-old boy became File #61249600—the official identity of a child marked by institutionalisation, extreme displacement, rejection, challenge, failure, resilience, persistence, and, ultimately, self-realisation.

Set against the backdrop and soundtrack of suburban South Australia, this is a story filled with colourful characters, misadventure, heartbreak, and tragedy—culminating in the remarkable success of a man who refused to give up on himself when so many others had.

Fast-paced and deeply engaging, with rare insight drawn from his own state department file, Warren Rankine shares his life’s journey with vulnerability, humour, and raw, unflinching reflection.

Others may have put him on a path. Ultimately, he forged his own.