Welcome to "Books by Brian" where you can easily find all the books authored or co-authored by Brian Robertson.
Click on "Books" in the main menu for all the books I have had some part in creating since 1998. If you would like to know more about any of these books just ask me.
At long last there are three books for sale on this site. They are: —
- Voices of Australian Veterans by Brian Robertson , published by Sid Harta Publishing, 2024. Cost — $30.00 each plus any postage.
- Digger’s Story by David Barrett and Brian Robertson, second edition, published by Ocean Reeve Publishing, 2024. Cost — $32.00 each plus any postage.
- A Gordon For Me by Brian Robertson, second edition, published by Ocean Reeve Publishing, 2024. Cost — $25.00 each plus any postage.
If you want to purchase a book just get in touch with me either by email at which I prefer, or phone me on my mobile on 0474 985 700 or ordinary phone on 07 3879 4195.
Also please note there is a great deal of information on this website that was written many years ago and we are in the process of up-dating everything.
The first book I ever wrote was with my very good friend Kerepuke Hivu Toben. Toben and I wrote this book in the mid 1990s mostly during long lunch hours at the Honiara Hotel when Toben and I were employed on an Australian/Solomon Islands project to build schools and develop curriculum. We had a great time! I started early each morning to make up for the long lunch hour! The book was Organising School Agriculture, published by Pearson Education Australia.
Most of the school books on this site were written with South Pacific schools in mind between the mid 1990s and about 2012 by myself and many friends. They are no longer for sale on this site but I am still very willing and able to discuss any of these books with any South Pacific teacher or student. I will also let you know how to access these books as best I can. I taught and developed curriculum in both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands for twelve years and loved every minute of it.
Anyone can ask me at any time, about any of the books listed on this site. I will respond to all I believe are genuine questions.
Books By Brian Blog
This website has had little interest for readers over the past few years, but that is about to change. During the last few years, I have been engaged in writing my latest book. It is now in the publishing stages at Sid Harta Publishing, and the title is Voices of Australian Vet ...
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As always the price of books on this site includes postage to anywhere in Australia. However due to changes of how the books are now sourced, and increased mailing costs, prices have risen slightly.
Prices reflect the most cost effective way I know to supply single book copies t ...
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I know that teachers in South Pacific schools have great difficulty getting the textbooks they require. Therefore I would like to help you obtain the books you need for any subject in either primary or secondary.
This site illustrates only the books written or co-written by me b ...
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I hope everyone is thinking, how the heck can I get a copy of this book! Here is how.
The book is certainly now available at Ringwood Publishing. It is also available at Waterstones bookshops although in some you may have to order it. The book is also available at other bookshop ...
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My new book, "A Gordon For Me" is being published by Ringwood Publishing in Glasgow.
This book is about my time in the Gordon Highlanders in 1955 and 56.
Learn how politicians were responsible for the deaths of 371 British soldiers, many of them National Servicemen, in Cyprus ...
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Brian's latest book, "A Gordon For Me", about the Gordon Highlanders in Cyprus in 1955 and 1956 will soon be available.
Read about the action of the First Battalion during 1955 and 56 from the point of view of a private soldier. Learn how politics caused the waste of 371 Briti ...
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A reply from the Department of Foreign Affairs:–
Here is the reply to my letter about books to PNG schools addressed to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julia Bishop.
Reading this response it appears that Australian aid money will no longer be available to PNG for ...
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I wrote the following letter to Julie Bishop the Australian Minister for Foreign affairs last week. Sure it would be good for me if my books were sold to PNG but I do believe it would also be good for PNG school students. I will also post the reply to this letter if and when I re ...
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I’ve just been to see the film, “The Railway Man.” What a terrific film, and imagine my surprise when I find out about Nagase Takashi whom I know a lot about from my late friend David Barrett.
Digger’s Story written by David Barrett and Brian Robertson describes in detail ...
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You will see a lot more comment from me on the front page of this site over the coming months. Let me start by explaining about the cuts to Australia’s foreign aid budget announced last week on the 17th January 2014. Although the Foreign Aid budget has been cut by 5 million the g ...
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It is taking me a long long time to learn how to cooperate with other sites out in the cyber world but one site I would like to recommend to those of us who are interested in anything military is this site http://www.books-forever.net.au. They have been good enough to let me blog ...
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common in troops returning from Afghanistan. But David (Digger) Barrett diagnosed himself in 1968 as a result of his WW2 service, which ended in 1946. He called it Anxiety Neurosis and he was pretty brave to admit to this in 1968. In his o ...
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Burnside is where people go to rest, socialise and appreciate peace and quiet—WRONG!
It’s where over 55 year olds go who are bored, who enjoy a good fight, hate authority, argue like hell, question every rule and regulation, love to interfere in the lives of others and, of cours ...
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During the years that David Barrett and I wrote Digger’s Story we always had it in mind that we might use more of the material we had. David had collected this from other Prisoners of War who had shared similar experiences during World War Two.
Those who have read Digger’s Story ...
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In March 1942, the survivors of the USS Houston and the HMAS Perth, both of which had been destroyed, joined the Australians British, Dutch and Indians at Changi. By then it was home to some 60,000 POWs. Digger met and made friends with quite a few of the Americans. (He explained ...
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Author is interviewed for the Terraces Times, publication at the The Terraces, A Queensland retirement village.
Interviewer is the Editor, Chris Caught.
Chris: How did it come about that you wrote David’s story? I can’t imagine that one morning over cornflakes you said to Marjo ...
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Two more interviews with Brian and David have been uploaded to the warstory.com.au home page.
Note: The Digger's Story website has now been amalgamated into the Books by Brian Website.
These were recorded just a week or two before David died but have just been added to the webs ...
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Paul Ham, author of the new book, "Sandakan", published by Random House wrote a letter to the Emperor of Japan and published it in The Australian on Tuesday this week (2nd October 2012).
The murders (for that is what they were) were worse than just about any other atrocity impos ...
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Good news! The book Digger’s Story is about to be joined by a revised version more suitable for younger readers from about the age of 10 years upwards. It is expected that this version of the book will be available from the start of next year in time for the schools getting back ...
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The Assistant Principal at Rosebery Primary School in the Northern Territory suggested that she would like to involve two senior classes by reading Digger’s Story to them and discussing it with them. The students could then ask questions of the author (Brian Robertson) or make co ...
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David Barrett was born in February 1922 and died on July 22, 2012. He was a Prisoner of War of the Japanese for three and a half years but lead a glorious life, enjoying each and every day—even those as a POW. These were black days of course but it was there that he learned to lo ...
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This is to inform all readers that the launch of 'Digger's Story' at the Wheeler Centre on 23 of August has been cancelled. It would not be the same without the appearance of David (Digger) Barrett and so the decision has been taken to cancel this event. The good news is that the ...
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Friends and family of David and Brian and others gathered at the Nook Caffé Restaurant in Jindalee in Brisbane on Saturday 4th August for the official launch of "Digger's Story" in Brisbane. Attendees were able to purchase signed copies of the book while enjoying the excelle ...
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David Digger Barrett now lives on in the pages of his book. Sadly Digger passed away at the ripe old age of 90 years on Sunday 22 July 2012 at Greenslopes Hospital in Brisbane. We were both looking forward very much to launching our book which was a joint effort of both of us. Th ...
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Digger's Story tells of an episode at Kanchanaburi when the artist Ronald Searle (of St Trinians fame) was recovering from beriberi and malaria and was looked after by a group of Australians including Digger. Ronald Searle was very grateful for the attention he received from thes ...
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When David and a mate Vern Hanson returned from their war on the HMHS (His Majesty’s Hospital Ship) Karoa they put in to Albany, Western Australia.
As David remembers it: -
"Vern and I had hardly descended the gangway when twin sisters grabbed us and hustled us away from the cr ...
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How do you survive when you're beaten, starved and humiliated as a prisoner of war in a camp on the Thai-Burma railway? 'You stick together, that's what you do,' says David 'Digger' Barrett. 'You scam, lie, steal, cheat and hate the bastards with as much energy as you love and pr ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Rita’s story. I hope all the pare ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Rodney’s story. I hope all the pa ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Anna's story. I hope all the pare ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Jeffrey’s story. I hope all the p ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Chris’s story. I hope all the par ...
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Just a few days ago I completed the up-loading of most of the Pearson titles onto this website and all teachers and parents in PNG now have many more school books to choose from. No matter what the school subject, or at what level, there is surely a quality book there for your so ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Stanley’s story. I hope all the p ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scienctists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Rosa’s story. I hope all the par ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scienctists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Daphne’s story. I hope all the p ...
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This article is one from 15 different Papua New Guinean scientists taken from the manuscript of the new Grade 9 Science Outcomes textbook prior to the design and editing processes currently being undertaken at Pearson Education Australia. This is Francesca’s story. I hope all the ...
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This is a short extract from Unit 9.4 Our Body from the forthcoming Grade 9 Science Outcomes book. This extract is in draft format and will look completely different in the eventual book. You can use this now with your grade 9 science class (or any class for that matter) if you w ...
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Hello all teachers, students and parents who are interested education in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and all other South Pacific schools!
This site is about to undergo a major upgrade. I have neglected it for far too long. The main purpose of this site in future will be to ...
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