Banks by Grantlee Kieza

$39.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

 Lust, science, adventure - Joseph Banks and his voyages of discovery - the extraordinary life of one of the world's most famous and notorious adventurers. Sir Joseph Banks was a man of passion whose influence spanned the globe. A fearless adventurer, his fascination with beautiful women was only trump ed by his obsession with the natural world and his lust for scientific knowledge. Fabulously wealthy, Banks was the driving force behind monumental voyages and scientific discoveries in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Arctic. In 1768, as a galivanting young playboy, he joined Captain James Cook's Endeavour expedition to the South Pacific. Financing his own team of scientists and artists, Banks battled high seas, hailstorms, treacherous coral reefs and hostile locals to expand the world's knowledge of life on distant shores. He returned with thousands of specimens of plants and animals, generating enormous interest in Europe, while the racy accounts of his amorous adventures in Tahiti made him one of the most famous and notorious men in England. As the longest-serving president of Britain's Royal Society, Banks was perhaps the most important man in the scientific world for more than half a century. It was Banks, one of the first Europeans to set foot on Australia's east coast, who advised Britain to establish a remote penal settlement and strategic base at Botany Bay, and he eventually became the foremost expert on everything Australian. Early governors in the colony answered to him as he set about unleashing Australia's vast potential in agriculture and minerals. For decades, major British voyages of exploration around the globe only sailed with his backing. By award-winning bestselling writer Grantlee Kieza, Banks is a rich and rollicking biography of one of the most colourful and intriguing characters in the history of exploration. ...Show more

Breaker Morant by Peter FitzSimons

$49.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

The epic story of the Boer War and Harry 'Breaker' Morant: drover, horseman, bush poet - murderer or hero? Most Australians have heard of the Boer War of 1899 to 1902 and of Harry 'Breaker' Morant, a figure who rivals Ned Kelly as an archetypal Australian folk hero. Born in England and emigrating to Qu eensland in 1883 in his early twenties, Morant was a charming but reckless man who established a reputation as a rider, polo player and writer. He submitted ballads to The Bulletin that were published under the name 'The Breaker' and counted Banjo Paterson as a friend. When appeals were made for horsemen to serve in the war in South Africa, Morant joined up, first with the South Australian Mounted Rifles and then with a South African irregular unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers. In September 1901 Morant and two other Australians, Lieutenants Peter Handcock and George Witton, were arrested for the murder of Boer prisoners. Morant and Handcock were court-martialled and executed in February 1902 as the Boer War was in its closing stages, but the debate over their convictions continues to this day. Does Breaker Morant deserve his iconic status? Who was Harry Morant? What events and passions led him to a conflict that was essentially an Imperial war, played out on a distant continent under a foreign flag? Was he a scapegoat for British war crimes or a criminal himself? With his trademark brilliant command of story, Peter FitzSimons unravels the many myths and fictions that surround the life of Harry Morant. The truths FitzSimons uncovers about 'The Breaker' and the part he played in the Boer War are astonishing - and, in the hands of this master storyteller, make compelling reading.           ...Show more

Brisbane: The Aboriginal Presence 1824 - 1860 by Raymond Evans

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

The Most Dangerous Man in Australia? by Barbara Winter

$32.95 AUD

Category: Australian History

Who was "the most dangerous man in Australia" in the years before World War II? Was it the geologist who obtained nickel and molybdenite to prolong the life of Krupp guns and help "our dear F hrer" to win the next war? Or perhaps the journalist who took Japanese money in return for persuading politician s that the peace-loving Japanese were no threat to Australia? Or the Vichy French Consul-General who urged the Japanese to seize New Caledonia, while he threatened the lives of Free French supporters in Australia? These are some of the intriguing characters to be found in this book. Judge for yourself who deserves the distinction! ...Show more

Women of Brisbane - Judy Watson by Judy Watson; Louise Martin-Chew (Editor)

$33.00 AUD

Category: Australian History

This publication records the history of Kingsford Smith Drive, Hamilton, Brisbane through exploring a public artwork that documents the stories of Brisbane's women and includes a history of this place, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. It is a rarely detailed exploration of the inspiration, history and mot ifs utilised in the public artwork titled bandarra-gan chidna: strong woman track / track of strong women (2019). Judy Watson (born 1959), one of Australia's most significant contemporary artists, developed artwork for this site which embraces and engages women from the broader Brisbane community. This interaction with women of the past and the present has underpinned and inspired her completion of this artwork journey. From pre-contact through to settlement times, Aboriginal people used this bank of the river to access water and food. It was used to travel from the area now known as Brisbane city and further afield to the west of Brisbane to gain access to the mouth of the river. Since contact and occupation, settlers continued using this bank of the river as a transport corridor, especially after convict women 'cut the road' to Hamilton in the early 1830s. bandarra-gan chidna was informed particularly by the rich and ancient Indigenous history of this place, and it celebrates the objects, plants and innovation with which Aboriginal people occupied this place. It remembers Brisbane's penal colony and early settlement (including the 'Female Factory' jail for convict women), and it also etches the journey of aviator Lores Bonney into the contemporary consciousness of this place. These histories have informed the ground plane artworks in key areas along the pedestrian walkway. These motifs, names and narratives reflect and reveal often untold stories of the women of this place, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. They are located primarily at Cameron Rocks Reserve and Bretts Wharf. ...Show more

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

$22.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required. ...Show more

Killing Sydney - The Fight for a City's Soul by Elizabeth Farrelly

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

I've lived in Sydney some thirty years. But I feel that the city I love is under genuine threat. Motorways, Mirrorglass, McMansions: this knock-down-rebuild mentality is everywhere. I get hundreds of emails, all the time, from people who are infuriated, or despairing, over what is happening to Sydney. A nd so, for the first time, I found myself making a secret little vow to the city - I will do what I can to protect you. For architect and writer Elizabeth Farrelly, Sydney was love at first sight. She has called the city home ever since. Moreover, as both city councillor and writer she has influenced and reported the shape of the city for over thirty years. Here, in her signature sharp, erudite and conversational style, she imparts a message that is part-lovesong, part-warning about the home city she adores, covering the history of Sydney's soaring civic buildings and unique public spaces, its present reality of housing crisis and near-continual development - including the human and urban impact of ongoing projects WestConnex, NorthConnex and the F6 Extension, the Powerhouse relocation, the Packer casino, the light rail relocation, the sale of heritage buildings like the Sirius for private apartments, and Darling Harbour - and laying down the gauntlet for its protection as a green, beautiful, affordable and accessible heritage city. ...Show more

Queenslanders: Their Historic Timbered Homes by FISHER, ROD

$39.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

In a single timely tome, Rod Fisher packs a lot of what’s known about the history of the timbered house in Qld – the sum of research, writing and practice over 4 decades. While breaking new ground on its origin and development, the first 4 chapters concern several key themes: 1. the evolution of a Vern acular class of housing in the north of Australia: from aboriginal to modern day, comprising a series of styles and the means of identifying each one by era and attribute 2. the historical context to traditional housing: using census data and contemporary testimony to amplify its configuration which reflects cyclical condition, personal choice and social acceptance 3. the human dimension to the main varieties of habitat and its environment: specifically the pros and cons of observers and occupants of the day followed by resolution of their discrepancies 4 whether Brisbane was in any way different from the rest of the state: examining which varieties made the greatest imprint, from elite and multiple types to the predominant gabled, hipped, pyramidal and later multi-gabled dwellings of the Vernacular tradition The next couple of chapters are casestudies illustrating those aspects, particularly the evolution of traditional housing and the impact of historical change. Though set in Brisbane they reflect larger issues: 5. the early inner suburb of Petrie Terrace: which exhibits not only changes in timbered housing over time, but also the effect of road improvement, shopping centre diversion, stadium development, building renovation and gentrification more generally 6. a timbered dwelling of nearby Bowen Hills: which, being modified several times in its lifetime and finally removed elsewhere, demonstrates change, as well as the influence of the locale and the impact of transportation improvements on housing and community At the same time, this volume serves as a guide and reference, partly by information, advice and example, but more specifically by means of the handy classification of Vernacular styles in the 1st chapter, and ultimately by instructions for researching any house in Qld: 7. a step-by-step guide to historical investigation and exposition: using a dwelling in Annerley/Tarragindi as the example That practical purpose is reinforced in the final 3 chapters by a Supplement of related material, Glossary of requisite terms and Bibliography of relevant sources on both the history and heritage of timbered housing – plus plentiful illustrations of course. As there hasn’t been a work on this intriguing subject for a long time – nor anything ever like this one – it will serve general readers, professionals, researchers, writers and academics on the one hand, and owners, occupants, renovators, restorers and vendors on the other, whether in Brisbane, Qld or elsewhere in Australia. To all and sundry, its core message is conveyed by one of Joni Mitchell’s bygone ballads: Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ‘Till it’s gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot ...Show more

Radicals: Remembering the Sixties by Meredith Burgmann, Nadia Wheatley

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

The Sixties -- an era of protest,free love, civil disobedience, duffel coats, flower power, giant afros and desert boots, all recorded on grainy black and white footage -- marked a turning point for change. A time when radicals found their voices and used them. While the initial trigger for protest was opposition to the Vietnam War, this anger quickly escalated to include Aboriginal Land Rights, Women's Liberation, Gay Liberation, Apartheid, and 'workers' control'. In Radicals some of the people doing the changing - including Meredith Burgmann, Nadia Wheatley, David Marr, Geoffrey Robertson and Gary Foley - reflect on how the decade changed them and society forever. 'Just like the Sixties, this book is a mesmerising kaleidoscope of unforgettable characters doing brave things.' -- Anne Summers 'An exciting time of change that shaped Australia and the world.' -- Linda Burney 'Aah, the memories. What a buzz!' -- Patricia Amphlett (Little Patty) ...Show more

Tarra - The Story of a Small Ship by Jack Peel

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

Tarra describes the 25 years of service provided to the nation by a 125-foot Wooden Cargo Vessel, operated by the Australian Army from her launch in 1945 to her abandonment in huge seas off the north coast of New South Wales in 1965. During the war in the South Pacific, the only mode of transport availa ble to provide food ammunition and supplies to the fighting forces and civilian population to the north of Australia, other than aircraft and pack horses, was seagoing small craft and small ships. The Tarra story follows her launch in Tasmania in 1945, when the ship was employed in dumping ammunition off the east coast. Based in Newcastle and later in Cairns, she was seconded to the Graves Registration Unit during the establishment of the Bomana War Cemetery, and then lent to the civil authorities to collect copra from remote islands. Tarra provided the only form of transport for materials and personnel for the construction of the Vanimo Outstation of the Pacific Islands Regiment on the Indonesian border in 1952, and she continued to resupply the Company base for the next ten years, making two voyages per year from Brisbane.  Tarra and her sister, Vasse, played a key role in training soldiers to become sailors, particularly in the Citizen Military Forces and in the development of the Australian Regular Army after the war and during the Pentomic experiment. In declining condition, she was sold to the Societe Marine Caledonian and renamed Milos Del Mar in April 1965.  The dramatic rescue of her civilian crew eight months later and her abandonment to sink slowly in rough seas was described on the front pages of major newspapers at the time and by the commander of the Force Sea Air Rescue aircraft, thereby completing Tarra's story. Water Transport continues today, with Landing Craft operated by 35 Water Transport Squadron RACT. ...Show more

The Golden Country: Australia's Changing Identity by Tim Watts

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australian History | Reading Level: 4 Non Fiction

John Howard was the unlikely reformer of Australian society. He loosened migration laws, massively boosting the population and making it less white. Simultaneously, his divisive rhetoric about national identity--a legacy of White Australia--hamstrung discussion of these huge changes. As the MP for a div erse electorate, the partner of a Hong-Kong-Chinese-Australian and father of Eurasian-Australians, and the descendant of a proponent of laws stopping Chinese people from coming here, Tim Watts asks: Why don't we remember Billy Sing, the Chinese-Australian sharpshooter at Gallipoli, or that Ararat was founded by Chinese miners? Why is Australia's imagined community so far behind our lived community? The Golden Countrychallenges us to reckon with the dark heart of Federation, the racial core of the Australian Legend, and to confront outdated notions of Australianness. It crunches the numbers on the economic and social effects of migration, and looks to a more inclusive future. ...Show more

What Ever Happened to Ned Kelly's Head? by Eamon Evans

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australian History