On February 22, 2011, journalist Jane Bowron had been living in her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, when the city was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, only five months after a 7.1 earthquake. While the first quake had caused damage but no fatalities, the second became the ultimate horror story: entire suburbs were decimated, houses collapsed, hillsides fell away, and people were killed or trapped in rubble and raging fires. As the historic city lay in ruins, Bowron managed to f...

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER • MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • A magisterial novel of love and war that traces the life of one man from World War II to the present.Available now on Prime Video: Justin Kurzel’s highly anticipated series based on this Booker Prize–winning novel by Richard Flanagan; starring Jacob Elordi, Ciarán Hinds, Odessa Young, Olivia DeJonge and Simon Baker."Magnificent." —*The New York Times Book Review"Nothing short of a masterpiece.

The iconic Australian exploration story - brought to life by Peter FitzSimons, Australia's storyteller.'They have left here today!' he calls to the others. When King puts his hand down above the ashes of the fire, it is to find it still hot. There is even a tiny flame flickering from the end of one log. They must have left just hours ago.MELBOURNE, 20 AUGUST 1860. In an ambitious quest to be the first Europeans to cross the harsh Australian...

Explosive SAS action in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.The command came: 'Stop those vehicles!'It was like a red rag to a bull. Instantly streams of 7.62 mm tracer and 50 mm calibre machine gun rounds arced across the night sky and smashed into the bus and truck.Elite SAS Patrol Commander Stuart 'Nev' Bonner takes us inside the extraordinary and dangerous world of secret combat operations in this explosive, behind-the-scenes look at life inside the...

**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...

Take a journey back to the front line with two Australian veterans as they retrace the footsteps of soldiers and politicians, villagers and the enemy in a meticulously researched new history of the Vietnam War.For Australians, Vietnam remains one of most difficult - and controversial - wars we have fought. On the fiftieth anniversary of Australia's first involvement comes Vietnam: The Complete Story of the Australian War, for anyone who wishes to understan...

Dando-Collins adroitly interweaves a compelling family history with the broader canvas of the Anzacs. Crack Hardy is a fine and important book.This is the true story of three Australian soldiers, the Searle brothers. One brother was killed at Gallipoli, another on the Western Front. One came home a decorated hero. Viv, a gifted poet who was planning to be a clergyman before the war, became a deadly efficient sniper. Ray shot himself and was charged with desertion. Ned was ...

So how do you test drive a Jumbo? And why did a future civil aviation director once taxi a plane down Perth's main street to attend a ball?From the ridiculous to the downright dangerous, the story of Australian aviation is full of tales of adventure and nation building. It is also a story about tragedy and eccentric characters with wild larrikin spirits.In this surprising, fascinating and sometimes very funny collection, Jim Eames brings together the great forgotten and unt...

It is one of Australia's most iconic images. On 17 April 1993, the Indigenous AFL footballer Nicky Winmar stood up against racial abuse and made history. Facing the Collingwood crowd that had taunted him all day the St Kilda player pulled up his shirt, pointed to his chest and declared: 'I'm black and I'm proud to be black'.Published the next day, the photos of Winmar's gesture sparked an intense debate that forced the AFL, the fans and the nation to confront their prejudices head-...

WINNER OF THE 2013 PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR AUSTRALIAN HISTORYWINNER OF THE 2012 MANNING CLARK HOUSE NATIONAL CULTURAL AWARDCOMMENDED FOR THE FAW EXCELLENCE IN NON-FICTION AWARDFor Australia, a new nation with a relatively small population, the death of 60,000 soldiers during World War I was catastrophic. It is hardly surprising, then, that Australians evaluating the consequences of the conflict have tend...

On 19 November 1838 James Bell, then aged 21, set out in the sailing vessel the Planter from St Katharine Docks in London to travel to Adelaide, an infant colony half a world away and not yet two years old. He left behind family, good friends and the mysterious 'C.P.', a young woman with whom he hoped one day to be reunited.The journey usually took 130 days, but due to the incompetence of the captain and the many misadventures encountered it took the Planter almost six months to re...

Paul Wilson was 59 before he finally discovered the nature of the crime that led to his incarceration at age 7. His dad knew there was only one way to survive against such gross injustice. It took Paul over half a century to learn. Follow Paul's journey from a poor Aussie bush home to a cold, harsh children's home where he is abused by ''brides of Christ'', to foster homes, a boys' home, an army training school, and through an eventful adult life desperately searching for identit...