surfresearch.com.au    references : books b

1988 Badger, Geoffrey: The Explorers of the Pacific. Kangaroo Press 3 Whitehall Road (PO Box 75) Kenthurst, NSW 2156, 1988. Hard cover, 248 pages, colour photographic plates (five sections), black and white photographs, illustrations and maps, (extensive) Appendix, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Review. A well balanced account of Pacific exploration, with the contributions of navigators from all the Europen powers assessed constructively. Special attention is given to the accuracy of their discoveries, relationship with the indigenous inhabitants, and scientific achievements, especially in natural history. As noted, the Appendix is extensive. This copy courtesy of Shoalhaven City Library.

2005 Baker, Tim (Editor) : Waves : Great Stories from the Surf. Harper Sports HarperCollins Publishers  25 Ryde Road, Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia. 2005. Soft cover, 266 pages, Black and White and Colour Photographic plates (two sections), Glossary, About the Authors, Acknowledgements. Review. A collection of high quality surf stories from a wide selection of professional Australian writers. Subjects range from personal reminicences (Phil Jarratt) to encounters with surf icons (Dora).  Most have been previously published in surfing magazines or appeared in surf related books.

2007 Baker, Tim : High Surf- the world's most inspiring surfers, waveriding as a way of life, the ocean as teacher. Harper Sports HarperCollins Publishers  25 Ryde Road, Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia. 2005. Soft cover, 357 pages, Colour Photographic plates, Acknowledgements. Review. Interviews and profiles from an eclectic range of surfers, heavily infused with  Baker's philosophical musings, implicit in the book's subtitles, and in the interspersed Surf Lessons.

2007 Baker, Tim : Go Surf. DK London, 2007. www.dk.com Soft cover, 160 pages, colour photograph, maps and illustrations, Index, Acknowledgements. Review. Instructional book from beginner to advanced manouvres, with DVD (not viewed).

2011 Baker, Tim: Surfari. Ebury Press Published by Random House Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060, 2011. www.randomhouse.com.au Soft cover, 365 pages, black and white map and photographs (chapter headings), Afterword, Acknowledgements, About the Author. Review Inspired by Ray Slattery's Surfari Highway (1965), the author circumnavigates the Australian continent, although accompanied by wife Kirst and children Vivi and Alex, the experiment is riddled with comprise. Baker's surfing is often frustrated by unsuitable weather conditions, and occasionally configured around social obligations, and overall is more talked about than actually done. In a somewhat confessional approach, he writes of his lack of practial skills, the difficulties of compromising with parental demands, and a fear of sharks. Insisting the book is not a surf guide, he is at pains to avoid exposing unpopulated surfing locations. During the journey, Tim and Kirst  Baker are to be complimented on their unstated, but clearly rigorously observed, vows of chastity. Tim's flannelette pyjamas undoubtedly helped.

1910 Baker, Reg "Snowy":  General Physical Culture.  With Articles On Special Subjects By Leading Australian Athletics.  (Health Strength Skill). Melbourne. G.Robertson & Co., 1910. Hardcover, 126 pages, black and white photographs and diagrams.  Cover image: Mitchell Library, Sydney. Review For extracts see the chapter by Snowy's brother: Harold Baker : Surf Bathing (1910). Reported to also include a chapter on the Australian Crawl swimming technique by cecil Healy, previously published as a pamphlet in 190?.

1979 Ball,  John  Heath ('Doc') : California Surfriders 1946 - a Scrapbook of Surfriding and Beach Stuff Mountain and Sea Publishing, Los Angles, California  Reprint of first edition (1946 - print run 510 copies) by Norman B. Whale Los Angles, California Hard cover, 103 pages, 170 black and white photographs, 1 map . Review

1858 Ballantyne, R.M.: The Coral Island. Dean & Son, London. No date but circa early 1940s. Number 23 in the 'Dean's Classics' series. Originally published by T. Nelson and Sons, London, 1858.  Hard cover, 248 pages. Review. While Ballantyne did not travel to the Pacific Islands before writing The Coral Island, the text clearly indicates that he read extensively on the subject before writing his classic boy's adventure novel in 1857. In his account of Polynesian surfriding (page 175) he appears to have read at least  the published accounts of Cook's marineers in the Hawaiian Islands and the Rev. Ellis' reports from Tahiti and Hawaii. In particular, Ballantyne's remarks on swimming and diving (page 174) are probably derived from Ellis. See Source Documents: 1858 R.M. Ballantyne: Coral Island Surfing.

1963 Banks, Joseph : The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks 1768 - 1771  Edited by J. C. Beaglehole The Trustees of the Public Library of New South Wales  in Association with Angus and Robertson  89 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.  First published February 1962.  Second Edition 1963.  Two Volumes.  Review Tahitian surfriding, page 283,  Tahitian canoe construction pages 319 - 320,  Tahitian carpentry pages 363 - 364. See Banks : Tahiti 1769.

2005 Barnett, Steve (publisher): Australian Sort Through Time Random House Australia Pty Ltd. 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, NSW 2061.  First published  in 1997, 7th Edition 2005. Hard cover, 547 pages, colour and black and white photographs, Picture Credits, Index. Review. A massive work that manages to cover an immense spectrum of Australian sporting events including swimming, surf lifesaving and surfriding. In particular, Kevin Barry's Sporting Icons includes a two page entry for Midget Farrelly, pages 34 and 35.

2005 Barr, Matt; Moran, Christopher and Wallace, Ewan : Global Surf Nation :  Surf Culture, People, History and Places Hardie Grant Books 85 High Street Prahan, Victoria, 3181, Australia. 2005. Soft cover, 112 pages, colour photographs, black and white photographs, Picture Credits. Review World surfing presented by country with notes on History, Locations, Surfer Profiles, Manufacturers and/or Shapers. Photography is mostly current as of 2005. Despite being edited (rather than written) from a  number of diverse uncredited sources, the is no bibliograhy or attempt to credit them. The book has a large number of errors. In Australia, the Gocher Myth is again repeated (page 55), and the section on Duke Kahanamoku (pages 55 to 57) has several inaccuracies.

1943 Barrett, Charles:  Australia in Pictures Cassell and Co. Ltd, Melbourne, Sydney, 1943. Hard cover, 89 pages, black and white photographs. Review A selection of photographs from all Australian states and territories, some by the author, but most from various government tourist promotion agencies. An arcticle, Sunlight Surfing Beaches, page 65, notes the popularity of surfing in the southern capital cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Coolangatta is the recognised surfing resort for Brisbane. It is accompanied by a photograph of Moama Beach, near Adelaide (page 66) showing at least six prone board riders. See Source Documents 1943 Charles Barrett : Sunlit Surfing Beaches.,

1836 Barrot, Theodore-Adolph: ,  Unless Haste is Made: A French Skeptic's Account of the Sandwich Islands in 1836.  Illustrated by Barthelme Lauvergune and Theodore Auguste Fisquet.  Press Pacifica, Kailua, Hawaii, 1978. Penny Pagliaro (Editor), Daniel Dole (Translator).  Introduction by Arthur Nagasawa. Hard cover, xxx pages, black and white illustrations. Review DeLaVega et. al (2004) note: Barrot, Theodore Adolphe 1803-1870 A5- "Les Iles Sandwich" Revue des deux mondes, Aug. 1, 15, 1839.  French magazine with text of his visit to the Sandwich Islands in 1836. A6- "Visit of the French Sloop of War Bonite, to the Sandwich Islands, in 1836" The Friend, Serialized Jan.-Nov., 1850.  Translated version of above. For extracts see: 1836 Theodore-Adolphe Barrot :Surfriding at Kealakeakua, Hawaii.

circa 1946 Bartlet, Vernont: You and Your Surfboard. Veron Bartlett, 6 Grove Street London W.C.1 Printed in Great Britain by Davie-Johnson Ltd Portbrothan Bay, Padstow, Cornwall, circa 1946 Soft cover, 23 pages, black and white illustrations by Maurice Bartlett. Review A post-war prone surfriding manual with a low key and humorous text and highly amusing illlustrations. Companion book to Ronald S. Funnell's The Art of Surf-Riding on the Cornish Coast (1953). Note the publishing details are different to those listed in DeLaVega et al. (2004).page 34. A jpg copy of this book was contributed, with many thanks, by Henry Marfleet, January 2008.

1964 Bascom, Willard : Waves and Beaches Anchor Books  Doubleday and Company Inc. Garden City, New York 1964. Soft cover, 267 pages, 25 black and white plates, 77 black and white illustrations Bibliography, Index. Review The definite account of breaking wave dynamics and their effect on coastal landforms.  Of specific interest to surfers are Surfing on Waves, pages 126 to 129 and Chapter VIII The Surf, which includes Willard Bascom's  method for estimating breaking wave height, page 173, Figure 56.  A detailed dicussion of this method is at Estimating Wave Height.

1988 Bascom, Wllard :  The Crest of the Wave - Adventures in Oceanography. Harper and Rowe Publishers, New York 1988 Hard cover, 318 pages, 54 black and white plates. Review Entertaining account by one of the pioneers of the science of oceanography and the author of Waves and Beaches, 1964. Chapter I  Surveying the Surf, is of most interest to the surfing reader - note in particular a simple method to measure wave height, page 7 and the associated plates, facing page114 and following.  Chapter XII Ocean Pollution? is well argued and flys in the face of many commonly accepted theories. Of obsure intest are Chapter IV : From Cancer to Capricorn and Chapter VI : Living with Nuclear Explosions, detailing the study of waves produced by nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll, 1951 - 1954. Despite the enormous energy released in these explosions, "the waves produced ... were less than phenonomal." - page 164.

2003 Bass, Scott:  Surf! - Your Guide to Longboarding, Shortboarding, Tubing, Aerials, Hanging Ten, and More. Extreme Spoprts (Series) National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, 2003. Soft cover, 64 pages, colour photographs and illustrations, References. Review Juvenile introduction to surfing with the usual topics.

1996 Batholomew, Wayne ‘Rabbit’ With Baker, Tim :  Bustin’ down the door Harper Sports, Harper Collins Publishers  25 Ryde Road, Pymble, Sydney NSW 2073, Australia 1996 Soft cover, 368 pages, 46 b/w plates, 5 b/w maps, epilogue (cast), index.  Review Dynamic surfer and personality (contrast MR) provides an entertaining story of the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who made good.  Covers a vast range of surfers, waves, contests and countries. Production is less than satisfactory – poor binding and the limited number of photographs are cramped.  Tim Baker is a former editor of Tracks and Surfing Life magazines.

1974 Beaglehole, J.C. : The Life of James Cook Stanford University Press Stanford, California. 1974. Original publisher : A. & C. Black, Ltd. London, 1974. Soft cover, 760 pages, Black and white maps and illustrations, Bibliograghy, Index. Review The essential Cook biography.

1898 Becke, Louis :  Wild Life in the South Seas. New Amsterdam Book Company 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1898. Hard cover, ? pages, Black and white illustrations. Review.   For extracted chapter : A Noble Sea Game, pages 147 to 157, see: Source Documents 1898 Louis Becke : A Noble Sea Game.

1840 Bennett, Frederick Debell:  Narrative of a Whaling Voyage Round the Globe, from the year 1833 to 1836.  Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, London, 1840. Hard cover, Two volumes. Review Although Bennett travelled extensively across the Pacific, he only reported surfriding at Pitcairn Island. For extract see: 1834 Frederick Bennett : Surfing on Pitcairn Island.

2007 Benns, Matthew: 100 Years- A Celebration of Surf Life Saving at North Steyne, 1907-2007. Nort Steyne Surf Life Saving Club PO Box 310 Manly NSW 1655 Australiaa, 2007. Hard and soft cover editions, 230 pages, black and white and colour photographs,, Acknowledgements with Bibliography, Lists of Members and Executives. Review Of most interest to surfriding researchers is the chapter The First Surfboard, pages 36 to 40, by Mark Maddox. Soft cover, right.

1925 (1976) Best, Elsdon: The Maori Canoe A. R. Shearer, Government Printer, Wellington, 1976. Reprint of 1925 edition. Best, Elsdon: The Maori Canoe Bulletin Number 7, 1925 Dominion Museum , Wellington, New Zealand, 1925. Hard cover, 452 pages, black and white illustrations and photographs, Appendix I (Names of Parts of Maori Canoes), Appendix II (List of Authorities Quoted), Index. Review The definitive work on the Maori canoe, Best's work also covers the canoes of other Pacific islands. See Source Documents: 1925 Elsdon Best : The Maori Canoe. Also note: Best, Elsdon: Polynesian Voyagers: The Maori as a Deep-sea Navigator, Explorer, and Colonizer Government Printer, Wellington, New Zealand, 1975. See: Best, Elsdon: The Maori Canoe, pages www.ethnomath.org/resources/best1925a.html books.google.com/books/about/The_Maori_canoe.html

.

2011 Bicho, Nuno F., haws, johnathon A., Davis, Loren G., Editors: Trekking the Shore- Changing Coastlines and the Antiquity of Coastal Settlement. Springer, New York, 2011. Hard cover, 496 pages, black and white photographs, illustrations and maps, Index. Review A collection of highly detailed academic papers, each individually referenced. The Prologue notes: "In the last decade, several review articles have laid the groundwork for a new appreciation of prehistoric human coastal adaptations and food resources (e.g., Bailey and Milner 2002; Bailey et al. 2008; Bailey and Flemming 2008; Erlandson 2001; Erlandson and Fitzpatrick 2006).  These articles have renewed and updated many themes from previous decades and reframed the importance of coasts for human societies by casting off many negative assumptions about marine resources and environments.  Coastal zones are no longer dismissed as marginal areas full of "fall-back" resources of limited economic value.  Instead, coastal zones are being recast as primary eco-niches for humans from the earliest periods of prehistory to the present.  This perspective shift flows from eight themes driving current interest in coastal archaeology that Erlandson and Fitzpatrick (2006) outlined in their inaugural article for the new Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.  Much of the impetus for renewed interest in the antiquity of coastal adaptations derives from a number of research prerogatives including: the role marine resources played in human evolution and dispersal, including migration routes; improved paleoenvironmental studies that have led to new models for human eco-dynamics in coastal zones; application of new technology to explore, map, and characterize submerged landscapes; the recognition of human impacts on ancient marine environments; and cognitive approaches that use ethnography to inform on past human perceptions of coastal landscapes and seascapes.  The majority of this new work has been developed in traditional areas of coastal archaeology including Scandinavia, the British Isles, and the Pacific Rim." -page

1875 Bird, Isabella L.: Six Months in the Sandwich Isles- Amoung Hawai'i's Palm Groves, Coral Reefs and Volcanoes. John Murray, London, 1875. Pages 14, 69-70, 203, 281-282. G. P. Putman's Sons, New York, 1881. Mutual Publishing, 1215 Center Street, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816. 1988, 2001, 2004. Review Isabella L. Bird's Six Months in the Sandwich Isles is a wonderfully written book and valuable historical resource. Apart from her engaging style, the account (based on a collection of letters originally written to her sister) reads as an authentic voice. See Isabella L. Bird : Surfriding at Waikiki, Hilo and Kauai 1873

2001  Blackburn, Mark Surf's Up : Collecting in the Longboard Era Schiffer Publishing Ltd  4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310 Hard cover, 256 pages, extensive colour and black and white photographs, Hawaiian Glossary, Bibliography, Index. Review

1935 Blake, Tom  Hawaiian Surfboard Paradise of the Pacific Press, Honolulu, Hawaii 1935 Hard cover with various dustjackets, 95 pages (text), black and white photographs. Dela Vega (2004) notes four 'editions':  The initial printing was hard cover with a dust jacket, followed by an imprinted cloth cover (probaly original without the dust jacket) and two editions in tapa cloth dust jackets. Lynch and Gault-Williams (2001) imply that the tapa cloth cover editions, highly prized by contemporary collectors, were apparently an attempt by Blake to value-add to his stock of unsold copies, page ? Image right: First tapa cloth edition. Image contributed, with thanks, by Henry Marfleet, Ashford,  Kent, UK. April 2007. Reprinted in 1983 as Hawaiian Surfriders 1935 Mountain and Sea Publishing, Box 126 Redondo Beach California 90277 See below.

1983  Blake, Tom Hawaiian Surfriders 1935 Mountain and Sea Publishing, Box 126 Redondo Beach California 90277 1983 Reprint of  Hawaiian Surfboard,  Paradise of the Pacific Press, Honolulu, Hawaii 1935 Hard cover, 95 pages (text), black and white photographs, Review Remarkable book.  Probably first book about surfing,  Chapter I. featires an acute awareness of the depth of surfing culture in Hawaii pre-1800.  Chapter II hjghlights include the development of swimming and surfboards - particually the question of whether the ancient surfers cut across the wave face - and the restoration of Paki's Olo boards at the Bishop Museum. Chapter III features the skills of Duke Kahanamoku, development of the hollow board, discussion of contest formats and a detailed surf guide to the breaks of Waikiki. Chapter IV is a complete  How to Surf guide with notes on rescue techniques, Aquaplaning (Wakeboards), Sailboards, racing and Surfboard Water polo. Photographs are  fascinating and supplement the text- note photographs of aquaplaning, sailboards and the Kalahuewehe Surf at Waikiki (Second set).  Many are water shots and some retain Tom Blake's  pencil notes in the printing.

1961  Blake, Tom Hawaiian Surfriding Nothland Press, Flagstaff,Arizona, 1961 Soft cover, 41 pages, 58 black and white plates, 3 black and white illustrations. Review Outstanding book with minimal text supporting informative photographs. Many are unique to this book and most have been subsequently re-published, often cropped.  Highlights include an advanced 'learning' board with substantail nose rocker, paddling position pad,  swallow tail with foiled fin (pages 4 and 5) and Tom Blake with boards from the Bishop Museum collection.

Bligh, William: A Voyage to the South Sea Fascimile edition Hutchinson group (Australia) Pty Ltd 30-32 Cremorne Street Richmond Victoria, 3121. 1979 First fascimile reprint by the Libraries Board of South Australia, edition no. 121, Adelaide,1969, from a copy held by the State Library of South Australia. Originally published by George Nicol, London, 1792. Hard cover, 264 pages, black and white maps and illustrations (plates). Review.

1959  Bloomfield, John : Know-how in the Surf Angus and Robertson  89 Castlereagh Street, Sydney 1959.  Reprinted 1961 Hard cover, 205 pages, 37 black and white plates, 8 black and white illustrations,Glossary.  Review Essentially a handbook/resource for the Life Saving Movement, the book does have some information on surfboards and many of the photographs are relevant. Chapters 1 to 4 (Short History of Surfing, Beaches and the Surf, Surf Knowledge, and Equipment) are of most interest to the general reader, the last two (Surf Carnival, Training for Competitive Swimming) less so.  Special mention: last plate showing USA and Hawaiian competitors to Olympic Surf Carnival,Torquay 1956 with their paddleboards- not the famous balsa Malibus

1825 (1925) Bloxam, Andrew:  Diary of Andrew Bloxam, Naturalist of The "Blonde" On Her Trip from England to the Hawaiian Islands 1824-25.  Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication Volume 10.  Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, 1925. Soft cover, 96 pages, black and white plates (mostly protraits), black and white illustrations and maps, Appendix.  Review See Source Documents 1825 Andrew Bloxam : Sandwich Islands. Also 1825 Robert Dampier : Sandwich Islands. and 1825 Lord Byron : Liliah and Floatboards.

1876 Boddam-Whetham, J. W.:  Pearls of the Pacific Hurst and Blackett, London,1876. internet archive http://archive.org/details/pearlspacific00whetgoog Review See Source Documents 1876 J. W. Boddam-Whetham  : Surfriding at Hilo.

1964  Bolton, A.T., (edtor) : Walkabout's Australia  - An anthology of articles and photographs from Walkabout magazine Ure SmithPty Limited, 166 Phillip Street Sydney 1964 Hard cover, 256 pages, 8 colour plates, 22 black and white plates, 5 black and white maps/illustrations, Contiributors. Review Includes reprint of Graig McGregor's article on Midget Farrelly, Champion of the Surf, first published January 1964. Pages 242 to 249.  Five beach images are included with the accompanying plates, the only surfing shot being that reproduced on the cover, see left.  Does not include any of the photographs originally printed with the article.

1956  Bondi Beach SLSC : History of Bondi Surf  Bathers Life Saving Club 1906 - 1956 Kenny and Watson, 7 Mary Street, Sydney. MA-1093 Hard cover, 52 pages, black and white photographs, one colour plate,  Review

2001 Booth, Douglas: Australian Beach Cultures - The History of Sun, Sand and Surf Bowker and Bertram Ltd. Old Bosham, Sussex, England, 2001. Soft cover, 387 pages, black and white illustrations and photographs, Other works, Glossary. Review. Douglas Booth presents a valuable perspective on beach culture in managing to successfully straddle the significant gap between the "responsible" surf lifesaving movement and "hedonistic" surfriders. One important element of distinction overlooked by Booth is the commitment of lifesavers to the one beach in all weather conditions whereas surfriders' beach time is invariably confined to off-shore conditions and often involving a degree of relocation. Amongst his many insightful observations, the account of the "look-away" as a form of critical derision used by surfriders is perhaps unique in the literature (pages ?). Unfortunately the book appears not to have an Australian edition.

1978 Bowker, R.M. and Bligh, Lt. William: Mutiny!! Aboard HM Armed Transport 'Bounty' in 1789 Bowker and Bertram Ltd. Old Bosham, Sussex, England 1978. Hard cover, 387 pages, black and white illustrations and photographs, Other works, Glossary. Review. Bowker notes,page 252, in the preface to  Chapter 6 (an account of the five month stay on Tahiti): "There is not the space in this volume to include the entire log for this period, so I have selected those parts which bear upon the ship's mission and upon the mutiny to come; and I have included other items which appear to be of particular general and nautical interest." See 1788 William Bligh and James Morrison : Surfriding in Tahiti

2009  Boyd, Duke : Legends of Surfing - The Greatest Surfers from Duke Kahanamoku to Kelly Slater. Photography by Jeff Devine, Foreward by Steve Pezman. MVP Books,  MBI Publishing Company and Quayside Publishing Group 400 First Avenue N, Suite 300. Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA, 2009. Hard cover, 208 pages, colour and black and white photographs, Index. Review Divided into twelve parts focusing on one aspect of significance (for example Part 1 Pioneer Surfriders), featuring predominantly Hawaiian, Californian and Australian surfers. .

1986  Brash, R. : How Did Sports Begin ? - A Look at the Origins of Man at Play Revised and enlarged edition, Fontana /William Collins Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1986 David McCay  Co. Inc., New York 1970 Longman Australia Pty Ltd, 1971 Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, 1972. Soft cover, 437 pages, black and white plates, Index. Review An expansive account of the origins of various sports, that puts surfing in a global context.  The surfing entry, pages 329 to 338, largely relies largely on Finney (1966) for early Polynesian developments.  The adoption of surfing by Australians and their enthusiasm for surf life saving is appears to be sourced from Maxwell (1949). An early surfing woodblock print and a photograph of Bondi S.L.S.C., circa 1907 are included in the second section of the black and white plates.

2010  Brander, Rob : Dr Rip's Essential Beach Book - Everything You Need to Know About Surf, Sand and Rips. UNSW Press University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2025, Australia, 2010. Soft cover, 238 pages, colour photographs and illustrations, Acknowledgements, Index. Review A comprehensive, if not exhaustive, book on the beach environment suitable for the general reader. Brander is known for illustrating the nature of rips with the use of "harmless purple dye" (pages 122-125), a method of observing the motion of water initially suggested by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century. Regrettably, How to Measure Wave Height, pages 42-43, does not acknowledge Willard Bascom's definitive method presented in his seminal work on wave research, Waves and Beaches (1964). See Appendix: How to Measure Waves. For an in-depth analysis of sand, see Michael Welland's Sand - The Never-Ending Story (2009).

1995  Brawley, Sean : Vigilant and Victorious - A Community History of the Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club 1911 - 1995 Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club Inc. PO Box 18 Cllaroy Beach 2097. Australia. 1995 Hard cover, 410 pages, black and white photographs, Notes, Office Bearers, Bronze Medallions, Subject Index, Name Index. Review Highly detailed acount of one of Sydney's first Surf Life Saving clubs and the growth of its community. Although boardriding plays only a small part of such an expansive work, the significant details recorded here are not available from any other source. Sean Brawley followed this with a history of the Palm Beach Surf Club in1996 and Bondi SBLSC in 2007, see below.

1996  Brawley, Sean : Beach Beyond - A History of the Palm Beach Surf Club 1921 - 1996 University of New South Wales Press Ltd. Sydney 2052  1996 Hard cover, 300 pages, black and white photographs, Endnotes, Appendicies. Review Excellent detailed history of a Sydney surf life saving club that has strong ties to surfboard history. Especially note 'Surfboards, Surfoplanes and Skis' pages 54 - 61, 'Boats and Boltar' pages 139 - 151 and 'The Malibu Era' pages 151 - 160.  Several other photographs in other sections are of interest and the  Endnotes and Appendicies are extensive.  Expertly researched and with a fine balance between recording the facts and personal anedotes. Sean Brawley followed this with a history of the Bondi SBLSC in 2007, see below.

2007 Brawley, Sean: The Bondi Lifesaver- A History of an Australian Icon. ABC Books Australian Broadcasting Corporation GPO Box 9994 Sydney NSW 2007. Hard cover, 336 pages, black and white photographs, colour plates between pages168-169, Notes, Selected Bibliography, Executive Officers, Australian and World Champions, Index. Review An intensively detailed work of the SLSA's official historian, following his histories of Collaroy SLSC (1995) and Palm Beach SLSC (1996), above. While the book's primary focus is lifesaving culture there is significant original research of interest to the surfriding historian. Surfboard and surfski activity at Bondi is detailed in Chapter 8, pages 212 to 221. On page 213, he notes a, previously unrecorded, reference to surfboards in Australia. circa 1867.

See Charles Steedman : Manual of Swimming, 1867.

The visit to Bondi of American surfer and film star Peter Lawford with his Dave Rochen "10 and a half foot, banana nosed, solid balsawood" and fibreglass board in 1950 is detailed on page 216.
Dave Rochlen was a favoured sufboard builder amoung Hollywood actor-surfers, noted for the outstanding quality of coloured decor and finish of his boards.
Brawley reports the board was ridden by Aud Laidlaw, Basil McDonald and female surfer Pam Pass.
Significantly, Pam Pass's recollections question Albie Thoms' (2000, page 63.) claim that the board was finless, see Notes Chapter 8 #19 page 323.
He notes the board was generally known as a "Zip board", but by it's Bondi riders as "Peter" and states
"Lawford never called the board a Malibu".
This is difficult to reconcile with the accompaning (previously unpublished) photograph of Lawford and the board at Bondi, dated 13/12/1950.
The board is clearly the same as the board in a photograph of Peter Lawford, with fellow film actor Richard Boone and surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku, at Waikiki in the early 1950s, printed in Surfing - Historical Images from the Bishop Museum, edited by DeSoto Brown, page 143.
Not so clear, but certainly identifiable in both images, is the word "MALIBU" in offset script across the nose.
In not Lawford, then someone (the second candidate would probably be the builder, Dave Rochen) labelled the board Malibu.
This may also be of some interest to those interested in the development of surfboard design in California, 1946 to 1950.

In explaining the failure of Lawford's technically advanced board to inspire reproductions by Bondi riders, Brawley argues:
Third, reputedly; 'Peter' did not possess what the 1956 Malibus had -a 'skeg' (fin): It would be the power of the fin that would mesmerise surfers in 1956.
Given Pam Pass's report apparently questions whether the board was finless, note that the Wakiki image indicates a +10 foot round nose, wide-tailed balsa and fibreglass board and certainly not, as I had previously conjectured,  a narrow tailed Hot Curl design.
The board closely resembles a Simmon's Spoon, a revolutionary design closely associated with Californian shaper Bob Simmons, circa 1949.
These boards were noted, amoung other features, for their shallow long based fins as illustrated by a photograph of Lawford in The Pit at Malibu, circa 1953, see Lueras, Page 115.
There is a very slight possibility that the board with a fin, directly behind Lawford, is in fact his Bondi board.
.
Examining the events of Black Sunday (the most celebrated rescue in the history of Australian surf life saving), 6th February 1938, Brawley comments on the development of the Surfoplane (page 134).

The surfoplane had been introduced to Bondi Beach a few seasons earlier by Stan McDonald.
On his retirement, McDonald had designed a rubber surf mat that he called a 'beacher'.
Along with his chairs and mutton oil tan: spray, McDonald leased the mats in their hundreds;riding them became a popular surfing activity at a time when board riding was still a marginal and almost exclusively surf club activity.
The surf mats soon became more popularly known as 'surfo- planes', the name of a rival surf mat manufacturer.

This is in conflict with the substantial claim by Thoms (2000, page 40), and others, that the craft was invented by Dr Ernest Smithers circa 1934 which, at the worst, parallels Brawley's estimated time frame.

Unfortunately, despite the involvement of Bondi club members, there is only a scant reference to the Australian representative team to the 1939  Pacific Games in Honolulu, Oahu.

Hermie Doerner capped off such representative honours for the club in 1939 when he was selected for the SLSA team that visited Honolulu. (page 146)

Doerner captained the team, which was also accompanied by Bondi club stalwart, Tom Meagher.
Jaggard (2006) page 192.

A minor point, but out of character with Brawley's intensive research, is a photograph on page 214 titled "Bondi members compare an old board with two 'toothpicks' ".
The image also appears in C. B. Maxwell's Surf (1949), clearly identified as "Maroubra board-men Bruce Devlin, Frank Adler, and Vince Mulcahy", facing page 177.

More obscurely, in his treatment of the development of the surf reel (pages 41 to 43), Sean Brawley considers  the contributions of the usual suspects, Ormsby, Bond, Flynn and Olding.
Strangely, he does not cite possible international  precedents he personally identified in Chapter 2 of Between the Flags (2006) pages  , a collection of articles edited by Ed Jaggard published to celebrate 100 years of the Australian surf life saving movement.

identified by Alleyn Best in Chapter 5, Best notes Walter Biddell's development of the Torpedo Buoy with a hand held reel at Bronte, circa 1902-1906 (pages 109 to 110).

The appliance is illustrated in an photograph of Bronte members circa 1908 with their current and the superceded model, reproduced in Brawley's chapter, page 35.

1968  Brennan, Joe : Duke of Hawaii - The Father of Surfing. Ballantine Books Inc. 101 Fifth Avenue New York, N.Y. 10003 Honolulu, Hawaii  1994.  First printed May 1968. Soft cover, 213 pages, black and white photographs (plates). Review Somewhat disappointing work in that generally Duke Kahanamoku's swimming career is given more prominance that his surfing exploits. See below.

1974  Brennan, Joe : Duke Kahanamoku, Hawaii's Golden Man. Hawaii's Cultural Heritage Series Hogarth Press Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii, 96818, 1974.  Soft cover, 61 pages, black and white photographs. Review Extremely brief account of the life of Duke Kahanamoku featuring his achievements in swimming and surfing. Essentially a heavily edited version of Brennan's book of 1968, see above.

1994  Brennan, Joe : Duke - The Life Story of Hawai'i's Duke Kahanamoku Ku Pa'a Publishing Incorporated Honolulu, Hawaii  1994.  Reprinted 1995. Hard cover, 280 pages, black and white photographs, Chronological index. Review Somewhat disappointing work in that generally Duke Kahanamoku's swimming career is given more prominance that his surfing exploits.

1997  Brimner, Larry Dane Surfing Franklin-Watts A Division of Crlier Publishing, New York. 1997 Hard cover, 64 pages, 19 colour photographs, 1black and white photograph, Publications and Organisations, Internet Resources, Index. Photographs by Peter Sterling. Review Basic juvenile introductory How -To book with well selected photographs of unknown or uncredited surfers. History section incorrectly credits Faye Baird Fraser, San Diego California in 1925, as the first documented female boardrider (pages 13 to 15) - see Isobel Letham in Duke 1914

2004  Brisick, Jamie : Have board, Will Travel - A Definitive History of Surf, Skate, and Snow. HarperCollins  Publishers 10 East 53rd Street New York. NY 10022. 2004. Soft cover, 195 pages, extensive colour and black and white photographs, Acknowledgements, Credits, Index. Review Although an origininal combination linking the histories of three board sports, the book can hardly be described as "definitve". The surfing section has a considerable number of historical errors, which casts some doubt on the validity of the other sections.  There are also conceptual problems - "Unlike surfing, skateboarding does have a utilitarian purpose."  (page 18) ignores the early use of surfboards for transport by Polynesians. See #500. Like some other commentators, Brisicks ignores the direct influence of windsurfing (another Board sport?) on the development of tow-in surfing. Of most interest is the revelation that snowboard design dates back to 1939 - the Wunderlund board, page 159.

1998 Broeze, Frank : Island Nation - A history of Australians and the sea. Allen and Unwin 9 Atchinson Street, St. leonards, NSW 2065 Review Drawing an alternate perspective to the traditional reading of Australian history, influenced by Geoffrey Blainey's The Tryanny of Distance (1966), Broeze largely concentrates on the importance of coastal and international shipping to the development of the nation. Aboriginal and European settlement  is covered in chapter 1, coastal exploration in chapter 4, and cultural response (including surf lifesaving and surf riding) in chapter 8. Some of Broeze's account has been adjusted by subsequent research, for example the"role" of William Gocher in popularizing daylight swimmimg (page242), and in some places his analysis is less than accurate, no doubt a disadvantage when adopting such a broad perspective. For an expanded account of these themes, see: Matsuda, Matt K.: Pacific Worlds - A History of Seas, Peoples and Cultures (2012)  For a detailed history of Sydney Harbour, see: Hoskins, Ian: Sydney Harbour - A History (2009)

2006 Brown, DeSoto : Surfing - Historical Images from the Bishop Museum. Bishop Museum Press 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96817 www.bishopmuseumpress.org/press Review Fifty percent of the photographs are probably previously unpublished and many of the others have extended captions with new information. Highly interesting is "A board called Malibu" (my caption) with Richard Boone, Duke and Peter Lawford at Waikiki in the early 1950s, page143. Lawford brought the board to Australia in 1950, see History: 1956. Note: 1. The book should be titled "Historical Photographic Images from the Bishop Museum" as there are none of the early surfing illustrations, for example John Webber's first image of a surfboard in 1779. See surfing images : 1788 to photography 2. 'Duke at Freshwater' (pages134-135)  for the first Australian demonstration uses Ablie Thom's  well researched, but incorrect, 23 Dec 1914 (actually 24th) and the surfing photograph is Cronulla Beach in February and not Freshwater in January.

1992  Bruce, Jill B. : Surf Lifesavers of Australia Kangaroo Press Pty Ltd 4 Whitehall Road, Kenthurst NSW 2156 1992 Soft cover, 40 pages, 35 colour photographs, 3 black and white photographs, 13 colour illustrations. Review Juvenile book extolling the virtues and the fun of the Surf Lifesaving movement. Most photographs are apparently from SLSA training manuals or promotional material.  Of most interest are the 3 black and white historical photographs, pages 36 - 39, and the attractive chapter headings.

2001 Bryant, Edward :  Tsumami - The Underrated Hazard Cambridge University Press,  The Pitt Building Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 2001 Soft cover, 320 pages, 40 black and white photographs, extensive black and white illustrations, diagrams, maps, graphs and tables, References, Index. Review A scienticific analysis of the effects of tusami on coastal landforms, the book includes expert discussion of wave dynamics.  The majority of tusami generated landforms examined are Australian locations, although the book fully covers tusami disasters through history and around the world. Special note : the Preface comments of  the use of online references .... Internet... material may not be readily available because the addresses have changed or because of the lack of an archival tradition for this new resource medium. - page XXV. This is a major headache for Internet researchers, and echoes advice on the Web LInks page...  If you find something that is really important to you, then either save it digitally or print it out. There is no guarantee that it will be there the next time you look for it.

1998  Brystrom, Chris :  The Glide – Longboarding and the Renaissance of Modern Surfing Duranbah Press (Publisher). Wakefield Press (Distributors)  Box 2266, Kent Town, South Australia  1998 Hard cover, soft cover, 128 pages, 191 colour photographs / sequences, 41 b/w photographs, 49 illustrations.  Review Stylishly produced with excellent photograghy, this work has a strong U.S. perspective.  Historical chapters (Bob Cooper, Peter Troy and Pat Curren) are very interesting.  ‘Twenty Surfers’, like most attempts at ranking, is strictly subjective (see Cassidy (1983). ‘Water Women’ is a worthy inclusion.  ‘Art Forms – Art / Poetry / Music / Photography’ is almost exclusively American – four pages devoted to surf poetry is four pages too many. If it is the intention of the author to prove or demonstrate a thesis (‘The Renaissance of Modern Surfing’), then the result is less than satisfactory

1938 Buck, Peter Henry : (Te Rangi Hiroa):  Vikings of the Sunrise  J.B. Lippincott & Co, Philadelphia, 1938 Frederick A.Stokes Company, New York U.S.A., 1938. Later published as Vikings of the Pacific Phoenix Books, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1959. Hard cover, 355 pages, black and white photographs, ilustrations (chapter headings), and maps, Bibiography, Index. Review For extracts, Source Documents: 1938 Peter H. Buck: Vikings of the Sunrise. For an online edition (with four maps, but unfortunately without the illustrations), see: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-BucViki.html New Zealand Electronic Text Centre Title: Vikings of the Sunrise Author: Te Rangi Hiroa (Sir Peter Henry Buck) New Zealand Edition Publication details: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1964 Part of: New Zealand Texts Collection This text is the subject of: Victoria University of Wellington Library Catalogue

1998  Burgoyne,Patrick and Leslie, Jeremy : Board : Surf Skate Snow Graphics. Watson-Guptill Publications, New York First edition 1997 Laurence King Publishing, London. 1998 Softcover, 145 pages, all colour photographs. Surfboards pages 16 to 46, and some discussion in the Introduction. Review The surfboard section of this book is a major disappointment.  The text makes scant reference to the period before airsprays (the earliest example is 1968) and there are no references to decal art, tints and pigments, or pinlines.  There is no appreciation of the personification of board graphics with their famous riders, the Jerry Lopez/Lightning Bolt combination the most obvious of many.  The photographic examples have no identifiable themes or classification.

1912 Burroughs, John:  Time and Change . Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1912. Published October 1912. Internet Archive http://archive.org/details/timechange00burr Review. John Burroughs' (1837-1921) principle interest is in geology, which he pursues and records during a world tour. At Waikiki he enjoys riding in an outrigger canoe and makes an attempt at surfboard riding. See Source Documents. 1912 John Burroughs : Surf Riding at Waikiki.

1993  Butler, Roger : Poster Art In Australia National Gallery of Australia, Canberra ACT 2600. 1993 First published in 1993 in conjunction with the exhibition The Streets as Art Galleries - Walls Sometimes Speak : Poster Art in Australia National Gallery of Australia, Canberra  5 November 1993 to 6 February 1994 Curated by Rodger Butler, Curator of Australian Prints, Posters and Illustrated Books. Soft cover, 104 pages, extensive black and white and colour illustrations, Notes, Exhibitions and Reviews, Bibliography. Review Exhibition catalogue notable for the work of Gert Sellheim, pages 20, 37 and 42, and the single known poster by William Dobell, page 40.  See  Posters and Postcards.

1974  Burrett, (editor) : Water Sports Macdonald Educational,  St. Giles House, 49-50 Poland Street, London W1A 2LG. 1974 Hard cover, 61 pages, multi colour and black and white images, Glossary, Index. Review Juvenile book with surfing on pages 34 to 37, half of which is a double page shot of Sunset Beach/Waimea Bay, circa early 1960's.  Also note photograph Surfers and boards, Newquay, Cornall circa 1964 on Contents page (page 6) and surfing stamp on fly leafs.

1826 Byron, the Rt. Hon. Lord (1789-1868):  Voyage of the 'H.M.S. Blonde' to the Sandwich Islands in the Years 1825-26.  John Murray, Albemable Street, London.  1826. Title page: Mitchell Library, Sydney.

---

surfresearch.com.au

---

Note
This is not a complete list of surfing books, only books read and reviewed  for this site are listed.
For more comprehensive lists go to...
The Surfing Bibliography - Surfing Books
- Steven  Whelan's (England).comprehensive list of books, film, video and magazines, listed alphabetically.
and/or
The Water Log Surfing Bibliography
- an excellent listing of books and journals by Daved Marsh (USA) listed by category.

---