Ultimately we rely on each other and for that to work we need a resilient society the theme of the phoenix of natural disasters the weekend australian january 2009. The title of this book the phoenix of natural disasters community resilience is aptly chosen the phoenix is a mythical bird that never dies the phoenix flies far ahead to the front always scanning the landscape and distant space it represents our capacity for vision for collecting sensory information. The outcome is a three part book with contributors from the field research institutions emergency service sectors support agencies and the media its main purpose is to focus on the resilience of people and communities following nds and to educate the sectors already involved in natural disasters. All of these birds are identified with the sun and depicted as rising from the ashes living again this is the essence of a community after a natural disaster they live again the phoenix of natural disasters community resilience is edited by kathryn gow and douglas paton who have done an excellent job of creating a relatively seamless transition between chapters with different authors