Books published by Derek Pugh

For many of the Royal Marines sent to Port Essington, life was a living hell of malaria, scurvy, termites, shipwrecks, cyclones, boredom, isolation and death. For one man, it was the 'most useless, ill-managed hold in Her Majesty's dominions' which deserved 'all the abuse that has ever been heaped upon it'.But it wasn't always so: in the beginning, French visitors shared their best Bordeaux wines and partied at Government House; small boats raced in regattas across the harbour; men played cricket; and the gardens grew the best pineapples in the southern hemisphere.Led by the stoic Captain John McArthur for 11 years, this is the story of the rise and fall of a peaceful little British village in the most distant part of the empire, and of how the chief occupation of the survivors became grave diggint.'A splendid read full of heartbreak, hope, despair, ambition and resilience' (Tom Pauling AO QC)

It's Schoolies Week in Bali. Ras follows Jess to the party town of Kuta and finds that protecting his girl is easier said than done. He also has to learn how to handle his newfound freedom as an adult. What could possibly go wrong?

A crocodile pulls a sleeping man into the river by one leg. Another breaks the neck of a swimming policeman. An out-of-luck miner drowns himself in the town's well.Once called Palmerston, the City of Darwin began in the 1870s. Darwin was a pioneer's paradise: sometimes as exciting as it was dull, full of potential but, too often, dangerous. Not everyone survived.The first settlers arrived in January 1870 to find very little other than surveyed blocks of bushland sold to distant investors. It was a colony made from scratch, with little tangible reason for its existence until the Overgrand Telegraph Line came through from London and joined Australia to the rest of the world. Then goldl was discovered and hopeful miners rushed north from all over the country. Most went home disappointed, but only if they survived the privations of the bush and the distraction of the pubs. The government brought in Chinese 'Coolie' workers - and they kept coming, gold dust shining in their eyes - until, by the end of the decade, there were ten times as many Chinese as European settlers, and Chinatown was the most vibrant part of the settlement.Known as Palmerston until it was renamed in 1911, Pugh brings the early colony to life once again through this delightful and colourful account of Darwin's fascinating, unique early history, and the extraordinary characters who pioneered the settlement of the north.With a foreword by Her Honour the Honourable Vicki O'Halloran AO, the 22nd Administrator of the Northern Territory.

This is the story of the birth of the city of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory.At first called Palmertston, Darwin is the only pre-Federation capital city in Australia which is young enough to have been photographed since its earliest days. When George Goyder and his survey teams arrived in Port Darwin in February 5, 1869, one of the draftsmen, Joseph Brooks, doubled as the expedition's official photographer. He was later joined by Captain Samuel Sweet of the Gulnare, who helped Brooks and took his own collection of photographs.These precious images show the very first camp on the Darwin peninsula and the men of the Second Northern Territory Expedition working in the Northern Territory of South Australia in 1869.

Darwin, the unique and vibrant city in Australia's tropical north, was almost stillborn.The Northern Territory had its beginnings under the governance of South Australia. Land was sold to investors, unseen and unsurveyed and in an unknown location. The sales raised the funds needed to found the new colony of Palmerston, the future capital of the Northern Territory of South Australia. The First Northern Territory Expedition was sent north to make it a reality. But it failed miserably and the government faced huge losses and insufficient reserves to refund its investors.To mitigate the loss, a new venture was envisaged - The Second Northern Territory Expedition - and there was only one man thought capable of ensuring a successful survey of the north: the Surveyor General, George Woodroffe Goyder.Goyder was an extraordinary man, full of frenetic energy and with a phenomenal work ethic. The survey took him and his expert teams of surveyors and bushmen only eight months. It resulted in the laying out of the city of Palmerston (now called Darwin), three rural towns and hundreds of rural blocks spreading over almost 270,000 hectares, all pegged out in the bush and mapped. The blocks were carved out of Larrakia and Wulna lands - without permission or compensation - and conflict with the Aborigines was an ever-present danger. Two men were speared - one fatally.Darwin grew from these somewhat humble but tumultuous beginnings. It was the only pre-Federation Australian capital established late enough to be photographed from its first settlement, and it is a survivor of challenges and privations unheard of in more temperate climes.Darwin's story is written on its maps. Street names such as Knuckey, McLachlan, Daly, Woods, Bennett, Harvey and Smith Streets, recall the surveyors and their teams. Suburbs such as Millner, Larrakeyah, Bellamack and Stuart Park remind us of the city's earliest days. It is the story of how the courage and diligence of a few led to the founding of the city we know today.

This is a true story of greed, exploration, murder, wasted efforts, life and death struggles, insubordination, incredible seamanship, and extraordinary bushmanship, amid government bungling and Aboriginal resistance, during South Australia's first attempt at colonising their Northern Territory in 1864.The South Australians wanted their state to be the premier state of Australia. The new settlement was expected to open up a trading route across the country to Asia and beyond, and exploit the agricultural and mining opportunities of the interior. It was to be at no cost to the state, as the land was sold, unseen and unsurveyed, to investors in Adelaide and London, prior to the first Northern Territory Expedition even setting out.The investors were already calculating their returns, but then, as the saying goes, the fight really started..."A fantastic read: insightful, cohesive, sequential, and well-paced. Loved it. Plenty of photos and maps to set the scene, with the addition of well researched complementary first-hand accounts and primary records. Pugh has captured the essence of the time, place and characters: their personalities, hardships, successes and celebrations. I wanted to read it to find out what was going to happen next. Pugh's writing style is 'alive' and easy to read." - Jill Finch

In the best tradition of Paul Theroux and J. Maarten Troost, comes Derek Pugh's torrid tale of Sumbawa, and his ascent of the iconic volcano Mt. Tambora, whose 1815 eruption did indeed change the world. Pugh's account of the eruption and its aftermath is masterfully done - clearly the product of much dogged research through archives, scientific journals, as well as conversations with Indonesians lasting long into the steamy night. Himself a long-time resident of the neighboring Indonesian island of Lombok, Pugh is a well-qualified tourist who also brings a wry and rollicking insider's account of local and ex-pat life along the volcanic chain of islands. The reader meets a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, from pre-schooler jockeys, to an ancient princess alone in her decaying Sultan's palace, to brainless Western surfer dudes and their chicks who have no clue about the history of the slacker's paradise they've stumbled upon. Pugh does a sterling job of filling that gap in Asian travel writing, as the many-layered dimensions of Sumbawan culture - their strict Islamism, great friendliness, and intermittent traumas, with the colossal Tambora looming across every page - unfold to the reader like layers of volcanic earth from a hidden Pompeii. Gillen D'Arcy Wood, author of Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World (Princeton University Press, 2014)

"e;a landmark in Australian literature"e; Maurice Rioli, MLA Fifteen year old Tammy Damulkurra lives in Maningrida - a remote Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land. Tammy has friends and likes the disco and thinks at last she has her first boyfriend but he cheats on her and Tammy gets into a fight with her arch enemy, Sharon. Tammy's parents send her to the outstations for several weeks to cool off and she quickly gets used to the bush and fishing and hunting with relatives. When she returns to Maningrida her love life is a mess and it's not until she leaves again for school that she realises that it's all going to be okay. Originally released in 1995 this second edition celebrates two decades of literacy education in remote communities in Australia. "e;a story that will strike chords with many teenagers,"e; with a "e;naive quality and adolescent voice (which) makes it instantly accessible"e; B Richardson First Published 1995

Accompanied by Turkey, his little 'hunting' dog, Derek Pugh founded several outstation schools in the most remote parts of Arnhem Land and gained a rare insight into a traditional way of life which has been witnessed by only a few outsiders. By turns reflective, tragic and hilarious, Turn Left at the Devil Tree is a memoir of a visiting teacher among the Indigenous people and wildlife of the Top End of Australia. It is also a history - revealing some little known and disturbing events that were sanctioned from the highest levels of government. Life there was "e;frustrating at times, but always a challenge and Derek has recorded his experiences beautifully in this delightful book"e;. Ted Egan AO