Well Said

We’ve compiled a selection of books that explore the landscape, history, people and places of Tasmania. Grouped by genre, these works of fiction and non-fiction will enrich and inform your Tasmanian experience.

Tasmaniana
Fiction
Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore (1988)
Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life (first published 1874)
Bryce Courtenay, The Potato Factory (1995)
Danielle Wood, The Alphabet of Light & Dark (2003)
Carmel Bird, Cape Grimm (2004)
Richard Flanagan, Death of a River Guide (1994), The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997), Gould’s Book of Fish (2002)
Martin Flanagan, In Sunshine or Shadow (2002)
Matthew Kneale, English Passengers (1999)

Non-Fiction
Culture and recreation
Matthew Newton, Shack Life: Tasmanian shacks and shack culture (2003)
Joe Cannon, Storm & Silence: tempestuous southern mistress and peaceful faraway place: a portrait of the Tasman Sea (2003)

Nature and environment
Johnson Dean, Shooting the Franklin (2002)
David Leaman, Step into History in Tasmanian Reserves (2001)
David Owen, Thylacine: the tragic tale of the Tasmanian Tiger (2003)
David Owen, Tasmanian Devil: A Unique and Threatened Animal (2005)
Peter Dombrovskis, On the Mountain (1996)

Biography & Memoirs
Christobel Mattingley, King of the Wilderness: the Life of Deny King (2001)
Nicholas Shakespeare, In Tasmania (2004)
Paul Collins, Hell’s Gatesthe terrible journey of Alexander Pearce, Van Diemen’s Land cannibal (2002)

Arts and literature
David Hanson, John Glover and the colonial picturesque (2003)
McNeill and Wooley, Architecture from the Edge (2005)
Ed. Brian Parkes, Design Island: Contemporary Design from Tasmania (2004)

Tasmanian History
Lloyd Robson, A History of Tasmania, Volumes I and II (1983)
Kathryn Evans, The Settlement of Hobart (2003)
Paul Tardif, John Bowen’s Hobart – The Beginning of European Settlement in Tasmania (2003).
Michael Nash, The Bay Whalers (2003)
Leonie Mickleborough, William Sorrell in Van Diemen’s Land (2004)
Christine Woods, The Last Ladies (2004)
Bruce Poulson, Recherche Bay: a short history (2004)

Food and Wine
Graham Phillips, Eat Drink Tasmania (2005)
Paul County and Bernard Lloyd, Before We Eat – A Delicious Slice of Tasmania’s Culinary Life (2003)

Travel writing
Tim Bowden, The Devil in Tim (2005)
Margaret Mittelback and Michael Crewdson, Carnivorous Nights: on the trail of the Tasmanian Tiger (2006)

Guide Books
Philip and Mary Blake, Secret Tasmania (2003)
Carol Bain et al. Lonely Planet: Tasmania Travel Guide (4th edition, 2005)
Matthew Bruce, Tasmania: The Bradt Travel Guide (1st edition, 2002)