Recommended reading
The publications below are not for sale thorugh the shop, but are recommended reading to further your knowledge.
Soldier Settlers
of the Granite Belt
Published in 2014, this book culminates seven years of painstaking research into the Pikedale Soldiers' Settlement Scheme, its envisaged intentions for success, and the bureaucratic workings that led to its ultimate failure.
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Available from the Stanthorpe and District Museum at https://stanthorpehistoricalsociety.org.au/.
Echoes of Italian Voices
A captivating glimpse into the lives of people who left Italy’s shores eager to build a better life for their families in a new country. Their stories speak of courage, hardships, perseverance, love, accomplishment and, ultimately, triumph. Generously illustrated with photographs and written in a conversational style, ‘Echoes of Italian Voices’ is compelling reading for anyone interested in understanding the migrant experience.
Acknowledgement is given to the Queensland Government and the Stanthorpe Shire Council for their assistance with this publication through the funding of a Q150 Grant and the Regional Arts Development Fund.
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Available through Frank Archidiacono.
Amiens State School
75th Anniversary
1919 - 1994
A booklet commemorating the 75th Jubilee of the Amiens State School documenting Jean Harslett's earlier research into the establishment of the Pikedale and surrounding soldier settlement areas.
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Available from Amiens State School.
The Guardians
The Guardians: Meet the Australian, French & Belgian people dedicated to gatekeeping the WWI Anzac legends, chronicles photojournalist Louise Grayson’s journey from the battlefields of France and Belgium to the Granite Belt, where more than 500 diggers resettled after the war in the Pikedale Settlement.
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Read The Guardians at https://www.ww1guardians.com/
The Last Battle of the Great War
When Australian soldiers returned from the First World War they were offered the chance to settle on 'land fit for heroes'. In this timely book, based on recently uncovered archives, Bruce Scates and Melanie Oppenheimer map out a deeply personal history of the soldiers' struggle to transition from Anzac to farmer and provider. The Last Battle examines the environmental challenges, the difficulties presented by the physical and psychological damage many soldiers had sustained during the war, and the vital roles of women and children.
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Available from bookstores.
Memories in Place
For six years documentary photographer Charles J. Page photographed in Belgium, France, Turkey and Australia to document the way major battles of the First World War were memorialised in Australia. The Australian component is contextualised by contemporary images of the battlefields of the Great War that are in response to the residual emotions that still exist in those once violent places.
The publication Memories in Place: The Centenary of World War 1 is the culmination of a unique photographic journey.
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Available from bookstores.
Misty Mountain
This book by RJH Adams provides an update to Harslett & Royle's highly acclaimed earlier work: They Came to a Plateau. Misty Mountain presents an authoritative study of Stanthorpe's recent history and the attributes of today's multi-cultural and diverse community. Amongst this is an insight into today's wine tourism industry on the Granite Belt. The 431 page book is excellently referenced with a number of attractive and interesting plates.