As a farm boy in western Victoria, John Oddie would watch RAAF jets pass overhead as he ploughed hay fields, wondering what it would be like to fly such a machine. Thirty-five years later - having flown Hueys, Chinooks, Hercules, jets and C-17s in a range of operations - John had risen to the rank of Air Commodore.John's appointment as deputy commander of Aussie forces in the Middle East capped a remarkable career of service to Australia. Sadly, this honour also involved the heartb...

How Australian Marcus Lee and his wife, Julie, survived wrongful imprisonment, house arrest and five years of trials and tribulations in Dubai.In 2006 Marcus Lee moved to Dubai with his wife, Julie, to take up his dream job working for Nakheel, the emirate's largest property developer. Everything went swimmingly until one day in 2009 when Marcus was picked up by the state police and imprisoned in solitary over false charges of bribery. Marcus managed to get out of prison - and out o...

Ben Cousins has one of the most extraordinary stories in modern Australian sport. He's perhaps the most gifted player of his generation - a former captain of the West Coast eagles, a Brownlow medallist, a premiership winner, voted the AFL's Most Valuable Player - but he's best known for what he's done off the footy field rather than on it.Ben is a self-confessed drug addict, whose drug binges would last for days and involve incredible amounts of cocaine, crack and ice. But what's r...

Patty spent the first thirty three years of her life living with her family on remote outback station properties - Old Bando, Minetta, Old Outstation - in south west Queensland, Australia. When her brother, Kerry developed a brain tumor, they moved to live in Charleville - a small outback town. Patty has an understanding of the land, and a great love of reading. Look beyond the words to a life lived devoid of any luxuries, without ever a complaint, but full of simple joys, happiness and lo...

It looked bleak and predictable for little Keelen Mailman: an alcoholic mother, absent father, the horrors of regular sexual and physical assault and the casual racism of a small outback town in the sixties. But somehow, despite the pain and deprivation, the lost education, she managed to absorb her mother's lessons: her Bidjara language and culture, her obligations to Country, and her loyalty to her family.So it was no surprise to some that a girl who could hide for a year in her ...

An epic new novel as memorable as the scent of lavender, from one of Australia's most compelling storytellers'Nothing is wasted, Simone. the love we give never dies.'At fourteen, Simone Fleurier is wrenched from her home on a Provencal lavender farm and sent to work in Marseille. Her life there is hard and impoverished, but Simone discovers the music hall and a dream: to one day be a famous dancer and singer. But when war threatens, Simone makes a ...

How did a father with no criminal history come to be on trial for the brutal murder of his wife?It began with a phone call to Brisbane police on 20 April 2012. Allison, wife of real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay, was missing.When investigating officers arrived at the family home, in one of the city’s wealthiest suburbs, a neatly dressed Gerard was about to send the couple’s three daughters off to school.Scratches on his face were shaving cuts, he t...

Want to know what really goes on on an aeroplane? Let's go behind the scenes and fly high with these tall tales and gossip from the galley!Everyone wants to be a flight attendant, or at least they want to know about the cushy lifestyle they lead – flying to exotic destinations, swanning about in five-star hotels, daytime lazing around the pool and night-time tabletop dancing with Bollywood stars. At last the lid is lifted. Come on board a real airline with a real f...

Southern England. Late summer 1940. The nation is fighting for its very survival and the Luftwaffe's aerial offensive is unrelenting. All that lies between invasion and salvation for Britain is the 'thin blue line' of RAF Fighter Command and its pilots.This newly illustrated anniversary edition of Life as a Battle of Britain Pilot reveals what it was like to fly a fighter plane in the Battle of Britain. Who were the Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of 1940? H...

WINNER OF THE 2017 AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARDS, GENERAL NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARWINNER OF THE 2016 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD‘There will be no wrecking, no undermining, and no sniping.’–Tony Abbott, 15 September 2015Abbott’s performances in the party-room debates on education and climate change had ranged between woeful and pathetic. He sounded desperate, he was inconsistent, and — his colleag...

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...

Politics, murder and sex push Hardy to the limit.'The godfather of Australian crime fiction.'When Cliff Hardy signs on as a bodyguard for charismatic populist Rory O'Hara, who is about to embark on a campaign of social and political renewal, it looks like a tricky job - O'Hara has enemies. A murder and a kidnapping cause the campaign to fall apart.Hired to investigate the murder, Hardy uncovers hidden agendas among O'Hara's staff as well as...