The New Zealand Expeditionary Force earned an elite reputation on the Western Front In World War I, and the New Zealanders' war effort was a defining moment in their national history.The statistics are astonishing: of the total population of New Zealand of 1 million, no fewer than 100,000 men enlisted, and of those, 18,000 were killed and 58,000 wounded. In other words, 15 percent of the male population of New Zealand became casualties.Famously, the NZEF wa...

In 1939 more than 140,000 New Zealanders enlisted to fight overseas during World War II. Of these, 104,000 served in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force.Initially thrown into the doomed campaign to halt the German blitzkrieg on Greece and Crete (1941), the division was rebuilt under the leadership of MajGen Sir Bernard Freyberg, and became the elite corps within Montgomery's Eighth Army in the desert.After playing a vital role in the victory at El Al...

In 1939 more than 140,000 New Zealanders enlisted to fight overseas during World War II. Of these, 104,000 served in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force.Initially thrown into the doomed campaign to halt the German blitzkrieg on Greece and Crete (1941), the division was rebuilt under the leadership of MajGen Sir Bernard Freyberg, and became the elite corps within Montgomery's Eighth Army in the desert.After playing a vital role in the victory at El Al...

'Hard eyes stare out of massive beards, their faces marked by the scars of battle. With these guys their webbing looks like it belongs to them, rather than it's been hung on a pair of reluctant shoulders. There's not a word been said to us, but the ante has clearly been upped. There's a dark and sinister feeling in the air.It doesn't take a genius to figure it's about to kick off.'Former SAS soldier Big Phil Campion tells it like is in this brutally honest account of his in...

Girt. No word could better capture the essence of Australia...In this hilarious history, David Hunt tells the real story of Australia's past from megafauna to Macquarie ... the cock-ups and curiosities, the forgotten eccentrics and Eureka moments that have made us who we are.Mark Twain wrote of Australian history: 'It does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies ... but they are all true, they all happened.' In Girt, Hunt uncovers these beautiful li...

A classic, prize-winning novel about an epic migration and a lone woman haunted by the past in frontier Waipu.In the 1850s, a group of settlers established a community at Waipu in the northern part of New Zealand. They were led there by a stern preacher, Norman McLeod. The community had followed him from Scotland in 1817 to found a settlement in Nova Scotia, then subsequently to New Zealand via Australia. Their incredible journeys actually happened, and in this winner of the New Zealand Bo...

Here are thirty true and graphic accounts of the most heroic SAS and special-forces missions ever undertaken into the most dangerous place of all - behind enemy lines. Bang up to date, this unputdownable collection includes the most recent operations into Iraq in 2003, Afghanistan and Bosnia, and features the entire range of special forces from SAS, Commandos and Rangers to Navy SEALS and Paratroopers.Also included are several accounts that lift the veil - clandestine 'eyes-only' o...

Cross-dressing convicts, effeminate bushrangers and women-shortage woes – here is the first ever history of sex in Australia, from Botany Bay to the present-day.In this fascinating social history, Frank Bongiorno uses striking examples to chart the changing sex lives of Australians. Tracing the story up to the present, Bongiorno shows how the quest for respectability always has another side to it.Along the way he deals with some intriguing questions – What did it mean to be...

The stirring, little-known story of the forerunners to today's Special Forces.The OSS-Office of Strategic Services-created under the command of William Donovan, has been celebrated for its cloak-and-dagger operations during World War II and as the precursor of the CIA. As the "Oh So Social," it has also been portrayed as a club for the well-connected before, during, and after the war. Donovan's Devils tells the story of a different OSS, that of ordinary so...

**The convict women who built a continent..."A moving and fascinating story." --Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's GhostHistorian Deborah J. Swiss tells the heartbreaking, horrifying, and ultimately triumphant story of the women exiled from the British Isles and forced into slavery and savagery-who created the most liberated society of their time.**The Tin Ticket takes us to the dawn of the nineteenth century and into the lives of Agnes McMillan, wh...

An earthy, entertaining collection of yarns about twenty larger-than-life outback characters. Meet Ron Canlin, who one day began sculpting the sandstone walls of his opal mine. Ten years later, every drive and tunnel in Ron's claim is full of wonderful sculptures - the eighth wonder of the world. Or Peter Venables, with his flowing white beard, puffing his pipe like a character from the pioneering 1800s, whose teams of Clydesdales plough, sow and harvest the crops they eat. Or Janie Marsha...

NOW A MAJOR TELEVISION SERIESThey call Adelaide the city of churches. What they forget is that every church has a graveyard - and every graveyard is full of skeletons.Adelaide, an elegantly designed, civilised city, where the inhabitants are known for their love of the arts, good food and fine wine, is also the place where many of Australia's most bizarre and macabre crimes have taken place.The cases in this book show that Adelaide ...