In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia in his ship, the HM Bark Endeavour. Setting out from England in 1768, he was given two instructions: to observe the transit of Venus and to find and chart the mythical "Great Southern Land". He succeeded in both tasks, despite he and his crew facing great hardship and danger, to complete one of the great voyages of exploration. But as a result of this voyage and reports made later by Joseph Banks, botanist on board the Endea...

On 3 December 1854 a bloody battle between gold miners, soldiers and police raged for fifteen minutes at the Eureka Lead in Ballarat. But this brief conflict, which had been brewing for years, would have momentous consequences overturning the accepted social order and bringing democracy to Victoria. EUREKA introduces you to the people and events that shaped this key moment in Australias history.

Australia is a land of extremes where searing heat and devastating floods can both take their toll. It is also a land of vast distances, leaving it vulnerable to calamaties at sea, by rail and in the air. AUSTRALIAS GREATEST DISASTERS charts the events that have caused not only tragic loss of human life, but also economic and environmental devastation. From Cyclone Tracy and the Ash Wednesday bushfires to the Granville train disaster and the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, these are the ...

The often harsh and unforgiving Australian landscape was a far cry from what the early colonisers were used to, and it proved a daunting obstacle to settlement. However, a few brave and at times foolhardy men were determined to prove themselves equal to the challenge. AUSTRALIA'S GREAT EXPLORERS looks at the tragedies and triumphs of men such as Wentworth and Lawson, Hume and Hovell, Burke and Wills, Leichhardt and Strzelecki as they battled to conquer the Great Diving Range, find an elusi...

Thousands of convicts were transported to Australia. Of these, some managed to escape incarceration and went on to achieve notoriety in their new land. A few tried to invent a Robin Hood reputation, taking the side of the poor settler against those in authority. Some committed crimes so heinous they were both feared and despised by the general population. Their lives were desperate, their fate often tragic. AUSTRALIAS MOST NOTORIOUS CONVICTS reveals not only their stories but also the horr...

Love, murder, betrayal, and adventure with transportation of convicts in 1787 and the founding of the penal colony that became Australia.With the American colonies closed to Britain, the gaols overflowed, the criminal under-class posed a threat to the property clazzes. A solution was required. The answer lay in the continent on the far side of the world - Terra Australis Incognita.'Discovered' by James Cook, the government of the day launched an ambitious experiment; to mak...

From the early invention of the boomerang as an effective hunting weapon to todays ground-breaking contributions to science and technology, Australians have always proven brilliantly adept at coming up with creative solutions to challenging problems. From manufacturing to agriculture, film to medicine, its likely that an Australian invention is making a valuable contribution to the way we live. AUSTRALIAS GREATEST INVENTIONS reveals how our industry and innovation have placed this country ...

Living in the wilder parts of Australia has its challenges.These are the true stories of one person's journey from Australia's suburbs to the remote northern Outback, and then to remote rural Tasmania.It is a story of deadly snakes, bush drumming, killer bicycles, Tasmanian tigers, and barramundi fishing.Compiled by Matt Flynn, a former Northern Territory journalist who also publishes fishing and outdoors magazines.

'You almost feel you are taking that trek with the party as Robert Macklin cites the obstacles - torrential river crossings, dense bush, the Snowy Mountains and more. Macklin covers Hume's public and private life, emphasising his affinity with the country and rapport with the Indigenous people, as well as providing a portrait of the evolving colony.' SYDNEY MORNING HERALDThe stirring untold story of a true Australian hero who opened up the nation.While Engl...

From remote outback and cattle stations to coastal towns comes a collection of amazing, eccentric and funny Australian stories, yarns and furphies - most completely unknown along with some you thought you knew.'Not only are there many things we don't know, we should never be too sure about the things we are sure we do know.'From Jim Haynes, one of our most successful and prolific tellers of yarns and bush tales, comes this collection of classic Australian s...

Yarns and memories that capture the experience of policing in the bush, gathered by the inimitable Bill 'Swampy' Marsh, bestselling author of GREAT AUSTRALIAN FLYING DOCTOR STORIES and GREAT AUSTRALIAN CWA STORIES.'I tell you, you meet some strange characters in this game ...'Boasting the biggest beats in the world -- some as large as France -- Australia's outback police have seen it all: natural disasters, incredible acts of selflessness, unspeakable crimes and daring resc...

Encounters with crocodiles, tussles with criminals, losing ships in cyclones ... these marvellous stories were originally published in the North Australian Fishing and Outdoors Magazine.These are true stories told by law enforcers, fishermen, scientists, historians and others.This book was compiled by Matt Flynn, a former Northern Territory of Australia journalist who now publishes outdoors magazines from his farm in southern Tasmania.