Not Your Usual Australian Vignettes

by Peter Macinnis

I am a scientist by training, and a writer of history by inclination (and going on reviews and awards that I get, I’m not a bad history writer, either). I bring robust scientific search and research methods to bear on historical questions, and everything is stored on multiple devices, but it is also meticulously curated.

I write a great deal about Australian history, both for the popular adult market, and also the younger reader, who represents the future of Australia. What I am sharing now is a cross between a large card index and one of the commonplace books of a now somewhat ancient writer of history who has, over the years, used many of these quotations, though others are as yet waiting their moment.

The collector of these words anticipates being Collected in the next dozen years or so by a chap on a horse named Binky, and he plans, ere then, to enjoy advanced middle age, which means slowing down on the writing front. I may still draw on this stuff, but if you are in the same area, jump be my guest!

This page takes you to the third of the separate
‘Not Your Usual Anthology of Verse’ (often-quoted English verse, #7);
‘Not Your Usual Science Quotations’ (a treasury of science for writers, #8); and
this ‘Not Your Usual Australian Vignettes’ (Australian history quotes, #9).

The price for this as a separate volume has been set low, mainly because most of it will also be found in a severely HUGE 1.6 million word collection, #11 in the series, probably out in mid-May (at the latest) under the title Not Your Usual Australian Voices. That last one is to be a freebie, mainly because it is already available elsewhere online as a free PDF file.

So, in summary, you can opt to take up separate volumes like this one, or just grab ‘Not Your Usual Sources’, (Not Your Usual series, #6). That will always represent a major saving, because I want to encourage people to reach out beyond their comfort zone.

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2017

About the author

During 2021, Macinnis has republished revised versions of all of his out-of-print books. The website listed above tells you how to get them. In 2024, he published The Lesser of Two Eagles, where you can learn that in an auction, you get something for nodding

Happy grandfather, travels, writes for adults and youngsters, mainly history or science. Published by the National Library of Australia (Australian Backyard Naturalist May 2012, another book Curious Minds October, 2012, Big Book of Australian History, 2013, 2015, 2017). Talks on ABC (RN), translated into 7 other languages. Winner of the W.A. Premier's Prize for Children's Literature 2013 and other awards.

Writing blog Old Writer on the Block. Google it and say g'day!

McManly on most social media. His Kokoda Track: 101 Days was a 2008 Eve Pownall Honour Book in the CBCA 'Book of the Year' awards. His Australian Backyard Explorer was the 2010 Eve Pownall Book of the Year (listed in 2011, in the prestigious international White Ravens list of children's literature). In 2012, his Australian Backyard Naturalist won a Whitley award, and the WA Premier's Children's Literature Award in 2013. After a few busy years doing other stuff, his Australian Backyard Earth Scientist won the long-winded Educational Publishing Awards Australia prize for best "Student Resource – Arts/Science/Humanities/Social Sciences/Technologies/Health and Physical Education/Languages ".

He has had half a dozen titles rated as "Notable Books" by the Children's Book Council of Australia: that's equivalent to short listing.