When William John Smith unexpectedly proposes to eighteen year old Ann Neilson, she imagines a future as a prosperous colonist's wife in the convict free settlement of South Australia. She finds herself instead at Kororareka in New Zealand's Bay of Islands, a place widely known as the Hell Hole of the South Pacific. With her eldest at death's door, and the family losing everything in the first Maori uprising, does she have the courage to start again?Ann's story begins in the narrow...

Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners of the world.When Flashman was inveigled into a game of pontoon with Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck, he was making an unconscious choice about his own future – would it lie in the House of Commons or the West African slave trade? Was there, for that matter, very much difference?...

Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners of the world.A hasty retreat from the boudoir would normally suffice when caught with a wanton young wife. But when her husband turns out to be a high court judge, a change of continents is called for, as Flashman sets off to America again.

Just a little way down Collins Street, beside Henry Buck's, is a perpetually dark but sheltered laneway called Equitable Place. Here you'll find a number of places to eat and drink. Settle yourself in the window of one, shut your eyes, and picture this scene of yore ...In this much-loved book, Robyn Annear resurrects the village that was early Melbourne – from the arrival of white settlers in 1835 until the first gold rushes shook the town – and brings it to life in vivid ...

The American Civil War is ending. Eighteen years after the famine ship Star of the Sea docked at New York, the daughter of two of her passengers sets out from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on a walk across a devastated America. Eliza Duane Mooney is searching for her younger brother she has not seen in four years, one of the hundred thousand children drawn into the war. His fate has been mysterious and will prove extraordinary.It's a walk that will have...

Tom and Lady Verity intend to place their dynasty in a position of economic, social and political leadership in England. Captain Matthew Star returns to England and makes a love match with their daughter, Charlotte, much to her mother’s displeasure. There is social unrest in the country and riots become commonplace. The problem of unemployment in and around Tom’s estate is solved by encouraging a shipload of local families to emigrate to America. Henry Star continues to prosper in New Orle...

A RAW LAND DRENCHED IN BLOOD, PASSION, AND DREAMS... The third book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country built on blood, passion, and dreams. England sends convicts to Australia, but among them, there are hard-working men and women who wish to create a new life for themselves. The same desire is shared by those who are free — but it will be a gruelling fight for survival. And the strong, young, and stubborn Jenny Taggart does not give up ... R...

Tom becomes involved in the sordid suicide of Lord Castlereagh, the Foreign Secretary, and plays a major part in the cover up, earning much political gratitude for the whole family. Meanwhile, James marries well and begins to lay the foundations of a political career. The hunt for Tom’s attacker, Godby Fletcher, leads to America. Joseph, busy with his inventions, faces tragedy which may be too much for him. There are shocks in store for both families that will herald great changes.

The fourth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country built on blood, passion, and dreams. The battle continues in the new British colony of Australia: the fight for power as well as survival. The corrupt military officers are doing everything they can to gain legal and political power, while the governor is finding it difficult to carry out his duties. And Jenny Taggart, now freed from her convict status, is fighting hard for her family, her r...

IN THE MIDST OF BLOODSHED AND REBELLION A NEW GENERATION STRUGGLED TO BE BORN...The fifth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country built on blood, passion, and dreams.In the British colony of Australia, the obstacles are challenging and never-ending. The new governor, Bligh — better known for his command on the Bounty and the mutiny against him — has already gained a relentless enemy: The New South Wales Corps, also known as T...

The sixth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country built on blood, passion, and dreams.Twenty thousand kilometres and four months of sailing are what stands between England and the colony of Australia.In his struggles to bring order in the colony, and to protect its settlers from abuse of power, and injustice, Governor Bligh is up against some powerful enemies and mischievous schemers.Three strong-minded governors have fa...

A battle lost. A daring escape. A long walk into obscurity. The ultimate failure… In the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden, a lonely figure takes flight with a small band of companions through the islands and mountains of the Hebrides. His name is Charles Edward Stuart: better known today as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had come to the country to take the throne. Now he is leaving in exile and abject defeat. In prose that is by turns poetic, comic, macabre, haunting and humane, m...