| Book Shop  THEY CALLED HIM BOY
by Peter Fenton
To see some photos from the book click here. When the 16 year old Manly surfer Andrew "Boy" Charlton defeated Sweden's world champion, Arne Borg, in a series of races at Sydney's Domain baths in the summer of 1924 a hero of Australian sport was born. Thousands of fans watched the events with as many turned away to listen to the roars from the crowd from the grassy verge alongside the pool. Ferries listed precariously in Woolloomooloo Bay as patrons tried to get a glimpse of the action. When Boy became Australia's first 1500-metres Olympic champion in Paris later that year he took 65 seconds from the world record and was universally acclaimed as the greatest distance swimmer the world had ever seen. As suddenly as he had arrived embarrassed by the adulation, he turned his back on fame and possible fortune to become a jackeroo rounding up sheep. Three times over the next decade he was lured from the bush to accept challenges from overseas champions and to participate in the Olympic Games of 1928 and 1932. There is much to learn from the story of this young man who loved the surf even more than the pool. His is a story of a different time. Of epic swims in open ocean pools with no lanes, no goggles, no tumble turns. Boy lived a simple and humble life interrupted by visits to Paris, Hollywood and the like where he was feted and had a grand old time! With access to the private diaries, records and photograph albums of the Charlton family, Peter Fenton has put together the comprehensive story of one of Australia's greatest Olympic idols. available at good bookshops
 FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME
by Peter Fenton
This is the story of the most famous and still the most important tour ever undertaken by an Australian rugby team. During the first world war(1914-18) the rugby union cancelled all grade competitions in NSW, Queensland and Victoria. The newly formed rugby league did not and so made great inroads into the amateur games popularity. It took Queensland and Victoria over a decade to resume their competitions. When Australia was invited to tour the British Isles and Ireland the Waratahs accepted on Australia's behalf. On a tour which lasted from July 1927 until March 1928 all but two of the 29 man touring party came from the eight Sydney premiership clubs. Their running style was a sensation and so popular they were invited to play France at the end of their stint in Britain and return home via Canada. They played 34 Games on the tour for 27 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses, averaging four tries per match. They won internationals against Wales, Ireland and France and lost narrowly to England and Scotland. Players like Alec Ross, Tom Lawton, Cyril Towers, Jack Ford and the captain A.C. "Johnny" Wallace are still regarded as among the finest ever to play the game. The games against the four home nations and France were eventually given full test status well after many had passed away. Out of print.
 OLIVE
by Peter Fenton
Olive is the biography of a north Queensland girl who put her age up to become an army nurse when Japan threatened to invade Australia in the early months of 1942. Because she has studied tropical diseases she was seconded by the US authorities, and worked as a nurse at the Us 12th Station Hospital Townsville as the town became a stronghold of US troops preparing to drive the Japanese from the Pacific. Discharged from the army when still only 18 she married, had a intellectually handicapped son and has spent the rest of her life working for the betterment of those similarly affected. available at good bookshops
 LES DARCY THE LEGEND OF THE FIGHTING MAN
by Peter Fenton
Les Darcy the Legend Of The Fighting Man is a biography on Australia's most famous fighter (1895-1917). Probably the most extraordinary story in Australian sport. A fighting machine who went from being the idol of the country to vilification during Word War One and who died in Memphis Tennessee aged 21 when generally recognized as the best boxer in the world. Available only from this website at $25 including GST and postage within Australia.
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