Beneath Whose Hand

Beneath Whose Hand by R. M. Williams tells the story of an extraordinary individual whose life journey reflects the spirit of the Australian bush.

R. M. Williams, known as a bushman, grazier, folk hero, and raconteur, is indeed one of the great legends of our time. He left home in his teens and ventured into the bush, spending months trekking through the deserts and ranges of Central Australia as the camel-man of a two-man expedition. Subsequently, he worked as a drover.

The turning point came with the sale of a handmade pack-saddle to Sir Sidney Kidman for five pounds, which marked the beginning of a business that grew rapidly. Soon bushmen from all over Australia were sending 'cash with order' for R. M.'s classic elastic-sided boots and other products. This mail-order business made him wealthy and established him as a household name throughout the bush.

Always restless and enterprising, R. M. Williams has never been content to merely be a businessman. The bush is his greatest love and, throughout his life, he has remained as close to it as possible—droving, running cattle stations, and breeding and training horses. From gold mining in the Northern Territory to tea planting in the New Guinea Highlands, publishing poetry, and establishing the Stockman's Hall of Fame, R. M. Williams has earned his place as a hero of the Australian bush.

"...a great Australian in a manner all his own... I cannot begin to describe the fascination of this book. It is different. Biographies of Australians who have made their marks... proliferate. Not one of them I have read paints a picture of a man so vital, of so many parts, as R. M. Williams." - Courier Mail

"...the stuff of which bush heroes are made." - Brisbane Sun