Right, this is about everything I have on Les Hiddins and Australian bushcraft/survival stuff.
There is a Bushtucker Man website at, "http://members.ozemail.com.au/~canine/bushtucker/" which does good job of putting together a biography for Les and bibliography of his books.
There were 3 series of 'Bushtucker Man', with 4, 7 and 4 programmes in each series respectively, and 1 series of 'Stories of Survival' with 8 episodes (more of a historical series about famous stories of survival in Australia). The 'Stories of Survival' series is available as 2 videos from ABC television - catalogue numbers 17925 and 17787. I don't know if you can get them on DVD at all as I got mine about 3 years ago.
The 'Bushtucker Man' series themselves are a little more difficult: I don't know if ABC ever released them as separate videos or DVDs. I found one video - a collection of a couple of episodes in the Yorkshire TV 'Contemporary Issues' series; it cost me 12 quid (inc p&P) from Yorkshire International Thomson Multimedia Ltd, TV Centre, Leeds, LS3 1JS or tel 0113 243 8283. Unfortunately, I don't have a catalogue number. Apparently, you might be able to get some from The Australia Shop, 115 The Strand, London, WC2R OAA.
I was a bit cheeky and asked ABC in London (54 Portland Place, London, W1N 4DY) if they would get them for me and, for about 50 quid, they taped all 15 episodes for me onto standard video cassettes. That was in about 1996-97 so I don't know whether they'd consider doing it any more.
In terms of books, I'm aware of 5 books:
'Bush Tucker Field Guide' - ISBN 0-14-028986-0. This is a pocket size ID guide for australasian bush foods with maps, colour photos, descriptions and usage (medicinal, food, etc).
'Bushtucker Map and Guide' - ISBN 0-670-89201-7. This is a map of Northern Australia, with a guide on bush foods with pretty much the same pictures as the field guide described above.
There are 3 other books tied in to the TV series:
'Tarnished Heroes: Epic Bush Stories of Survival'- ISBN 073330613-6. Again, a more historical book on famous Australian bush stories.
'Stories of Exploration and Survival' - ISBN 0-7333-0546-6. The accompanying book to the 'Stories of Exploration and Survival' series.
Lastly, 'Explore Wild Australia' - ISBN 0-670-87914-2. This is a series of guides to areas of Northern Australia with marked routes and descriptions of the surrounding country. It's not great in terms of a manual for bushcraft but is a stunning book with some great photos and a wealth of environmental information.
There doesn't appear to be any books by Les purely on bushcraft: there are the bushtucker guides but, considering the amount of time he spends with the aboriginals and the fact that he clearly enjoys the food, survival, craft and anthropological aspects of his job, I was surprised that he hasn't done anything else - yet.
One of the reasons Les Hiddins got into the whole bushcraft thing was to help the Australian Defence Force (ADF) survive if lost in the bush. What he helped to develop were 'snack maps' - maps with printed information on edible plants on the rear. Quality idea, that. Anyway, I haven't been able to get hold of any of these myself yet, although a mate of mine in the ADF is supposed to be trying to get me a couple before my next visit. Anyway...
Finally, there were 2 CD-ROMs made, called '...from Arnhem Land to the Kimberly Ranges' and '...from the Rainforest to Cape York'. Both available from a company called 'Natural Learning'. ABC TV may also do them. There's video, photos, guides, etc, on these CD-ROMs and I think they're both excellent.
I added my vote for Les in the BushcraftUK forum poll as someone I'd very much like to see interviewed, as he's such a knowledgeable and - if you've seen the programmes - watchable guy. The original Bushtucker Man series were, in my opinion, the best and you not only learned a bit about looking after yourself in the Australian bush (a lot of the info learned from the people that really knew, ie, the Aborignals), but they are visually stunning and the camera work is excellent. Like I have said before, here is a man with pretty much the best job in the world.
Just to finish off - as I've rambled on for ages - a list of other books that are pretty useful if you take a trip down under:
'The Penguin Book of the Bush' by Edward Kynaston, 1977, ISBN 0 14 00.4390 X. This is not a bad book for anyone who wants to go camping in the bush. A lot of the stuff - especially the first aid details - are now out of date.
'Australian Bushcraft', MW Plate, 1971, SBN 7018 0280 4. Again, dated but not too bad at all. Some good references and info on finding/trapping native flora/fauna.
'Bushcraft: A Serious Guide to Survival and Camping', Richard Graves, 1978, ISBN 0 7100 8862 0. Much better with lots of stuff on shelter building, navigation, rope and cord-work etc. Diagrams aren't wonderful but are functional.
My 2 favourites:
'Australian Bush Survival Skills', Kevin Casey, 2000, ISBN 0 9587628 1 3. Excellent reference, loads of useful and relevant info, recently written.
'Bush Food', Jennifer Isaacs, 1987. ISBN 1 86302 504 9. My favourite as it is all about aboriginal hunting/gathering, lavishly illustrated, combining history, native culture, and food collecting techniques. Even better, it has loads on aboriginal herba/natural medicine. Quality book.
Finally finally....someone mentioned the music from the Bushtucker Man series. Can't remember the guy's name off the top of my head but, while I have looked in Australia, on the internet, etc, I cannot find a soundtrack CD for the programme. The bloke does have other albums out but none of the stuff from the programme - as far as I know.
As you have probably gathered, I'm a massive Les Hiddins fan and if you have any more info on Bushtucker-related books. DVDs, videos, etc, I'd love to know about them. Likewise, if you want any further info on the stuff I've mentioned above, get in touch via the 'Community'.
Cheers,
Mike
