Entrepreneur, adventurer, philanthropist ... Australian icon Dick Smith shares his extraordinary life story for the first time.'Part Bear Grylls, part Bill Gates, but 100% Aussie larrikin. Dick is a great innovator, philanthropist and adventurer, who in my eyes can do no wrong.' - Paul Hogan'Businessman, adventurer, philanthropist . . . Dick Smith is a true Australian legend.' - Greg Mortimer OAM'I have been charmed by good fortune to be born in...

Dick Smith takes on the hot topic of our times, arguing that Australian and global population growth carries enormous risks, dangers that none of our political parties is prepared to address.In 2011 the world's population exceeded 7 billion. Each year we add nearly 80 million people and by mid-century we will require twice as much food and double the energy we use today. Australia will be deeply affected by these trends - we have the fastest growing population of a...

On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history.This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Pete...

From the bestselling author of Kokoda and Gallipoli comes the epic story of Australia's deadliest Vietnam War battle.4.31 pm: Enemy [on] left flank. Could be serious.5.01 pm: Enemy ... penetrating both flanks and to north and south.5.02: Running short of ammo. Require drop through trees.It was the afternoon of 18 August 1966, hot, humid with grey monsoonal skies. D Company, 6RAR were four kilometres...

The extraordinary life of the Gallipoli veteran and WWI Flying Corp gunner who founded Qantas and gave Australia its wingsBy the critically acclaimed author of bestselling biographies of John Monash, Banjo Paterson, Joseph Banks, Lachlan Macquarie and Henry Lawson, this is a fascinating, lively and thoroughly researched portrait of a modest, resolute family man with a steady hand during turbulence, a man who guided Australia's national airline from its humb...

'Readers look for and admire good writers and great writing. They will find it, in spades, in The Battle of the Bismarck Sea.' - The Canberra TimesIn the thick of World War II, during the first week of March 1943, Japan made a final, desperate lunge for control of the South West Pacific. In the ensuing Battle of the Bismarck Sea, a force of land-based Australian and American planes attacked a massive convoy of Japanese warships. The odds were against them. But a d...

Established after World War I by the Royal Australian Navy, the Coast Watchers were a loose organisation of several hundred European settlers, missionaries, patrol officers and planters living in British and Australian Pacific Island territories whose job it was to observe and report on the enemy. They were mostly all unpaid volunteers whose job it was simply to observe and report on foreign shipping and aeroplane movements.It was never envisaged that the Coast Watchers would do an...

'Always compelling, very entertaining.' Daily Telegraph'A fabulous yarn. Highly recommended.' Better ReadingHe fought Napoleon’s army and survived.He was sent to the gallows and escaped the noose.Now he is in chains and on his way to the other side of the world. What happens next will become one of the most remarkable survival stories in history.The 19th century has just begun. The world is at war. E...

The must-read story of the boy from Brisbane who became a wartime hero and aviation trailblazer.In an action-packed life, the indomitable 'Smithy' went from fighting as a soldier amid the carnage of Gallipoli and the Western Front to taking to the skies against the likes of the Red Baron - for which he won the Military Cross for gallantry - before becoming the greatest peacetime aviator of his generation.Along with Charles Ulm, he was the first to conquer the Pacific by air...

Praise for David Houle"Houle breaks down big ideas into easily digestible, entertaining small bites…Crack this book open whenever globalization's gotten you down."—Slate.com."The Shift Age lifts us out of the rapids of techno-change and helps us see the course of the river we've been rafting on."-Howard Bloom, author of the GOD PROBLEM and GLOBAL BRAIN"[The Shift Age] is must read for anyone who is interested in where humanity is headed in coming generations. This b...

Environmental politics has many faces and operates at multiple scales: it preoccupies individuals as well as governments, drives local agreements as well as international treaties, results in minor business changes as well as wholesale business decisions, and fluctuates between a politics of protest and one of accommodation. In this Very Short Introduction Andrew Dobson offers a lively and comprehensive commentary on the many facets of environmental politics today. Looking towards...

Climate Change Adaptation for Health and Social Services addresses concerns from the health and community services sector, including local government, about how to respond to climate change and its impacts on communities. What should an intervention framework for the community-based health and social services sector contain and how can it complement an organisation's core values, role and work programs? What current direct and indirect impacts of climate change are most relevant to organisati...