First Footprints tells the extraordinary story of the Aboriginal people of Australia. How they made their way out of Africa 60,000 years ago, and how they survived across this vast continent, from the harsh deserts of the inland to the glaciers of southern Tasmania. With photos from the ABC TV series of the same name.Some 60,000 years ago, a small group of people landed on Australia's northern coast. They were the first oceanic mariners and this great sout...

Many chronicles have been written about war, but few, if any, can compare with John Masefield’s masterpiece, Gallipoli. It can be found on countless lists of the finest literary works of all time, and is one of his major achievements.The Battle of Gallipoli campaign began one fateful Sunday morning in April 1915.A joint British Empire (including the newly formed Australian and New Zealand Army Corps ANZAC) and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman cap...

On August 7th 1915, men of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade staged one of the most tragic, brave and futile charges of the First World War. Seeking to break out of the Anzac position at Gallipoli they attempted to storm an extraordinarily strong Turkish position, defended by artillery, machineguns and thousands of men, using nothing but fixed bayonets and raw courage. The first wave of Light Horsemen were killed within seconds of leaving their trench, yet over the course of the next few minutes...

The story of a stranding alone, on an island off the coast of New Zealand, of an English Clergyman. His survival, despair, and joy at rescue.

The soldiers of the SAS, the Commandos and Special Operations Engineer Regiment are Australia's most highly trained soldiers. Their work is often secret, their bravery undeniable and for thirteen years they were at the forefront of Australia's longest war. Shunning acclaim, they are the Australian Defence Forces' brightest and best skilled.In an extraordinary investigation undertaken over ten years, Chris Masters opens up the heart of Australia's Special Forces and their war in Afg...

'I had two paddocks to look after,' said Les Gilpin, 'one of 1800 acres, one of 1000 acres. My job was to keep the rabbits down.' Les left school when he turned fourteen and went to work as a rabbiter, living in a corrugated iron hut, on a remote corner of a property. This was Australia in 1945. Les stuck it out at the Back Hut, as his little home was called, for six years. His voice is the authentic voice of Australia.Before he went to war in 1939, Geoff Sheehan had hardly ever be...

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...

The Mutiny of the Bounty is one of the most famous stories in maritime history that has been told in countless books and motion pictures. It describes the arduous voyage of the H.M.S. Bounty, under the harsh rule of the strict Captain Bligh, and the eventual mutiny of much of the crew led by the Mutineer Fletcher Christian. Less well-known is the incredible survival story of how Captain Bligh and fourteen loyal men were cast adrift in an tiny open boat, and how they survived an astonishing...

Powerful and provocative, this is a beautifully written and very personal search to understand the men who were the protectors of Aboriginal people in Australia's north - their moral ambiguities, their good intentions and the devastating consequences of their decisions.On 13 February 2008 Kevin Rudd and Brendan Nelson gave two very different apology speeches to the Stolen Generations. Rudd alluded to racism, eugenics and the immorality of past policies. Nelson spok...

Selected extracts from Ian Wishart books

An entertaining collection of insider yarns by an Aussie Test cricket legend.In the Test arena, Dennis Lillee wasnever beaten. West Indian champion Viv Richards had taken the sword to all theinternational bowlers of his era. But when he came up against Lillee, it was a heavy-weight fight between unrelenting combatants. Their contests werealways take-no-prisoners affairs.A bowler himself, author Ashley Mallett played 38 Tests during the heyday of Australian cricket ...

In November 2004, Mulrunji Doomadgee's tragic death triggered civil unrest within the Indigenous community of Palm Island. This led to the first prosecution of a Queensland police officer in relation to a death in custody. Despite prolonged media attention, much of it negative and full of stereotypes, few Australians know the turbulent history of 'Australia's Alcatraz', a political prison set up to exile Queensland's 'troublesome blacks'. In Palm Island, Joanne Watson gives the fi...