Unforgettable characters emerge from this vintage Herb Wharton collection which ranges from city to bush, from tall tales to amusing parables. There’s Rainbow Jack the opal digger; Dr Roo, who when the dingbats are upon him boxes his own shadow; and stockmen with nicknames such as Wild Duck, Grease Paint and Diamond Jim. Along with campfire yarns and memories drawn from childhood are stories from Herb’s other life in the big city and on the literary trail.

A unique, authentic novel of friendship and brotherhood, based on the author' s long years droving on stock routes of inland Australia. Herb Wharton, former drover, now celebrated author, unleashes a strikingly original vision of outback Australia. From the riotous picnic races to the famous Mt Isa rodeo, from childhood in the yumba to gutsy outback pubs, Unbranded presents a rollicking cast of stockmen, shearers, barmaids and tourists. At its heart this novel is the story of three men: Sandy is a white man; Bindi, a Murri; Mulga is related on his mother's side to Bindi, and on his Irish father's side to Sandy. Their lives and enduring friendship cover forty years in the mulga country of the far west. Unbranded recounts how Sandy achieves his dream of owning a cattle empire, how Bindi regains part of his tribal lands for his people, and how Mulga finally sits down to write about their shared experiences.

The Yumba, an Aboriginal settlement, is home to Herbie, his brothers, sisters, relations and friends on the outskirts of town. From his back door the view of his playground stretches beyond the banks of the Warrego River, as far as the eye can see. The fun-loving Herbie learns his culture from both Aboriginal and white worlds: from his tribal elders and from the local townies. For Herbie his Yumba is a village peopled with friends and family, who keep an eye on him and his mates. But there's always escape to the surrounding hopbush plain, a larrikin's paradise. Herbie's rollicking adventures range from school-age antics to his teenage years as a stockman and, briefly-on into the present and his wry observations in traveling the world as an author.