The New Zealand Wars of the 1840s and 1860s, other nineteenth-century military encounters, the South African War, the First and Second World Wars, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, the Gulf War, modern-day peacekeeping . . . The Penguin Book of New Zealanders at War contains the best, widest range of published and non-published written material on our people in warfare. This is a soldier's book - thus letters, diaries, journalists' reports, memoirs. The focus is on actual experience and on ...

The fascinating story of the exceptional maritime explorer, Matthew Flinders - the man who put Australia on the map.Shipwrecks, storms, death and danger - Matthew Flinders encountered it all on his courageous quest to circumnavigate and chart the treacherous Terra Australis coastline.From the drama of epic voyages and devastating shipwrecks; his part in the naming of Australia; his cruel imprisonment by the French on Mauritius for six long and harrowing yea...

The Colony is the story of the marvellously contrary, endlessly energetic early years of Sydney. It is an intimate account of the transformation of a campsite in a beautiful cove to the town that later became Australia's largest and best-known city.From the sparkling beaches to the foothills of the Blue Mountains, Grace Karskens skilfully reveals how landscape shaped the lives of the original Aboriginal inhabitants and newcomers alike. She traces the ways in which relation...

The most common murder victim in 19th century Australia was a baby, and the most common perpetrator was a woman. Annie Cossins pieces together the fascinating story of the most infamous legal trial in Australia to reveal an underworld of struggling mothers, unwanted babies, and a society that preferred to turn a blind eye.'The book's power stems from its devastating details; Cossins establishes a tone so vivid it's reminiscent of Dickens.' Publishers Weekly

The first single volume history to cover all the battles fought by the Australians against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea.Hell's Battlefield is the first book that tells the whole story of the Australians against the Japanese in New Guinea during World War II, from invasion in 1942 to the brutal end game in 1945. Besides giving new perspectives on the Kokoda campaign, the book covers the battles that preceded and those that followed, most of which have p...

New edition of the bestselling history that traces the chequered story of 100 women transported together in 1829 to Sydney. Includes new information on the women and treatment of convicts and new illustrations. Intrigued to discover a convict ancestor in her family tree Babette Smith decided to investigate her life and the lives of the 99 women who were transported with her on the ship Princess Royal in 1829. Piece by piece she reveals the story of her ancestor the indomitable Susannah Wat...

Silver Medal Winner at the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards in New York, NY, USA.Sometimes it’s not about the destination...it’s about the journey.‘Flying the Knife Edge’ is the story of an ordinary man experiencing extraordinary things as a pilot in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s.After an untimely exit from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Matt McLaughlin took a leap into the unknown, travelling to Papua New Guinea to work as a missio...

In this Very Short Introduction Kenneth Morgan provides a wide-ranging and thematic introduction to modern Australia. He examines the main features of its history, geography, and culture since the beginning of the white settlement in New South Wales in 1788. Drawing attention to the distinctive features of Australian life he places contemporary developments in a historical perspective, highlighting the importance of Australia's indigenous culture and making connections between Aus...

The Japanese attack on Broome is the second most deadly air raid on Australia soil in our history and yet it's almost entirely overlooked.On 3 March 1942, nine Japanese Zero planes strafed the small town planning to destroy the aerodrome and American planes. With no notice, the townsfolk could only put up minimal opposition and in an attack that lasted only an hour, almost one hundred men, women and children lost their lives. Not a single operational aircraft remained in Broome, bu...

An unauthorised eye witness account from a first responder Fire-fighter to Australia's worst natural disaster the Black Saturday Bush-fires.Thie book details the crews actions of Whittlesea Tanker 3 during Black Saturday and the weeks after. 

Did the entire New Zealand land mass sink beneath the waves 23 million years ago?Many biologists reject the idea and insist that our native terrestrial fauna can be explained only by the continuous existence of land. But many geologists are now asserting that there is no longer any convincing geological evidence that the New Zealand section of Zealandia remained above the seas surface. But if Zealandia did sink completely beneath the waves 23 million years ago where did our distinc...

Alice Springs, Alice, The Alice, Mparntwe, is the most talked about but least familiar place in Australia. It is a town of extremes and contradictions: searingly hot and bitterly cold, thousands of miles from anywhere, the heart of black Australia and the headquarters of the controversial NT Intervention. It's seen as a place where blokes are blokes, yet the town has a high lesbian population. It is the gateway to the red centre, but relatively few Australians have been there. Its striking...