An accomplished book about the genius and ingenuity of the game's greats (and the forgotten) and how they have shaped the game through the innovation of tactics.From Pagan's Paddock to Clarkson's Cluster, from Fitzroy's huddle to Sydney's flood, the tactics of Australian football have become part of the vernacular.In this groundbreaking book, ABC journalist James Coventry reveals the secrets behind them all. You'll meet the German gymnast who taught Geelong how to break the...

How the Data Analytics Revolution is Uncovering Footy's Hidden Truths'Footballistics is more than just good writing. The nature of football continually changes, which means its analysis must also keep pace. This book is for students, thinkers, and theorists of the game.'Ted Hopkins – Carlton premiership player, author, and co-founder of Champion Data.Australian Rules football has been described as the most data-rich sport on Earth. Every time and everywhere...

The first full-length biography of George Ingle Finch - maverick Australian mountaineer, scientist, concert pianist and father of actor Peter Finch.George Ingle Finch, mountaineer, soldier, scientist, rebellious spirit, boy from the bush, was in his day one of the most famous men in the world. In 1922 he stood at the highest point on Everest, a feat not bettered for 30 years. He invented the predecessor to the puffer jacket and pioneered the use of oxygen in climbing. A World War I...

A captivating true story that will speak to generations of Australians, from the author of Mezza Italiana.'Nonno Anni gives me a nudge. "You know, when I first came to Australia, I knew that my life would change forever."'Leaving the small village of Fossa in Italy in 1939 to meet a father he barely remembered in a place that was far from everything he knew, fifteen-year-old Annibale Boccabella arrived in Australia determined to make a go of it. It was a ti...

Lee Kernaghan's very outback memoir is an affectionate celebration of the sounds, characters and milestones (as well as the odd calamity) behind the making of an Australian music legend.Lee Kernaghan is 'the Boy From the Bush', an iconic star and 2008 Australian of the Year whose music has shaped a generation of country music fans. For the first time, Lee steps off the stage and invites you behind the scenes, into the ute and over the rutted red dirt on a rollocking journey through...

A remarkably warm-hearted, uplifting and inspiring story of one boy's survival against the odds.Abdi's world fell apart when he was only fifteen and Somalia's vicious civil war hit Mogadishu. Unable to find his family and effectively an orphan, he fled with some sixty others,heading to Kenya. On the way, death squads hunted them and they daily faced violence, danger and starvation. After almost four months, they arrived in at refugee camps in Kenya - of the group he'd set out with,...

Contrary to the age-old sporting truism, what happens on tour sometimes needs to be told.'For as long as the game of cricket has been played internationally, there have been journos "on the tour" ... Life on the road is tough. But as you are about to experience, it's bloody entertaining as well.' Adam GilchristCricket writer Andrew Ramsey's job was to be on tour with the world's greatest cricket team over a decade when it had no peer. tHE WRONG LINE chronicles the privileges and pit...

She has captured the heart of a nation like no sporting figure since the days of Phar Lap and Don Bradman. This is greatness the likes of which is rarely seen. This is a tale that will not weary. This is the authorised story of the horse that couldn't be beaten, by acclaimed journalist and broadcaster Gerard Whateley.the updated and bestselling biography, written by acclaimed journalist and broadcaster Gerard Whateley, with a foreword by Peter Moody, BLACK CAVIAR documents the caree...

The best, the worst and the most memorable moments from Australia's best-known sports commentators."I love this book" Peter FitzSimons Without doubt, we Aussies love our sport. We've got passionate opinions about the contest, the players, the refs and umpires - and about the commentators. Love 'em or loathe 'em, their calling of a game or race can lift something ordinary into the extraordinary, while their quick-thinking asides are often as timeless as the event itself. In Back to t...

"A book full of aces....A true page-turner."— Associated Press"This is good stuff, and it's written with flair."— The OregonianHigh Strung by Stephen Tignor is the gripping untold story of the fiercest rivalry in the history of professional tennis. Viewed through the lens of the fabled 1981 U.S. Open match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, High Strung brings the golden age of tennis vibrantly alive once more. A fascinatin...

An unputdownable account of the courage and bravery under fire of our Australian soldiers on the frontline - from WWII to Afghanistan.From Gallipoli to Afghanistan, many Australians have been awarded military honours for acts of selfless courage. Others have missed out. Bestselling author Ian McPhedran uncovers new stories of extreme bravery in action from WWII to today, and hears from those on the front line about what courage really means. Some of these stories, including Medals f...

'I didn't know Matthew could read or write' - Matt's dadFrom the Sheds is Matthew Johns' fascinating, frequently hilarious look behind the scenes of Rugby League. the creator of the self-confessed Aussie legend Reg Reagan - as well as a tough competitor who notched up almost 200 first grade NRL games and eight matches for the Kangaroos, winning a premiership with Newcastle Knights along the way - who better than Matthew to give an insider's view of the superstars, larrikins and ente...