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

Red Lead: The Legendary Australian Ship's Cat Who Survived the Sinking of HMAS Perth and the Thai-Burma Railway by Roland Perry

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

The legendary Australian ship's cat who survived the sinking of HMAS Perth and the Thai-Burma Railway. Just after midnight on the 1st March 1942, Australia's most celebrated cruiser, HMAS Perth, was sunk by Japanese naval forces in the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java. Of the 681 men aboard, 328 survi ved the sinking and made it to shore - and one cat. Her name was Red Lead, and she was the ship's cat, beloved by the crew and by HMAS Perth's legendary captain Hec Waller. But surviving shell fire, torpedoes and the fierce currents of the Sunda Strait was only the start of the terrible trials Red Lead and the surviving crew were to face over the next three and a half years. From Java to Changi and then on the Thai-Burma Railway, Red Lead was to act as a companion, mascot and occasional hunter of food for a small group of sailors who made it their mission to keep her alive in some of the most hellish prison camps on earth.Red Lead's extraordinary story is one of courage, loyalty and love amidst battle, imprisonment and death, brought vividly to life by bestselling author Roland Perry.         ...Show more

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

Booze Built Australia

$24.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

Great Expectations: Emigrant Governesses in Colonial Australia by Patricia Clarke

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

Pathfinder, 'Kriegie' and Gumboot Governor - The Adventurous Life of Sir James Rowland AC, KBE, DFC, AFC by Sir James Rowland; Peter Yule

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

A descendant of early pioneers of New South Wales, James Rowland combined a thirst for adventure with a strong sense of duty. Aged just 22, he became a Lancaster pilot in the elite Pathfinder force, flying 34 missions over occupied Europe and being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In January 1945 , he was the only survivor of a collision with a Canadian aircraft over Germany. After narrowly escaping being shot as a spy, he spent the rest of the war as a POW. Returning to the RAAF in 1947, Rowland was a test pilot during the early years of the supersonic era, and played a leading role in the Mirage procurement. His leadership qualities and technical expertise saw him become head of RAAF engineering in 1972, and, in a controversial appointment, Chief of the Air Staff in 1975, the first and still the only engineer to head the RAAF. In 1981, Rowland was appointed Governor of New South Wales, a position he held with distinction for eight years. A brilliant pilot and aeronautical engineer, who combined a strong commitment to duty with a great sense of fun, Rowland has a well-earned place among the great leaders of the RAAF. ...Show more

Second Best by Ben Pobjie

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

   History is always written by the winners and about the winners. But what about the men and women of the past who reached for gold but grasped only morale-sapping silver? Australia’s second-best comedy historian Ben Pobjie celebrates the fascinating stories of those pipped at the post of greatness – f rom Buzz Aldrin following footsteps on the moon, to the woman not credited with discovering DNA because she had two X chromosomes, and Australia’s second Prime Minister whose name everyone keeps forgetting. Second Best shines a light on those plucky men and women who, through no fault of their own – or at least only a little bit of fault of their own – didn’t quite get there before everyone else, but did get there before almost everyone else. ...Show more

Tarra - The Story of a Small Ship That Significantly Impacted the Australian Army by John 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 Bible in Australia: A Cultural History by Meredith Lake

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

The revelatory story of the Bible in Australia, from the convict era to the Mabo land rights campaign, Nick Cave, the Bra Boys, and beyond. Thought to be everything from the word of God to a resented imposition, the Bible has been debated, painted, rejected, translated, read, gossiped about, preached, a nd tattooed. At a time when public discussion of religion is deeply polarised, Meredith Lake reveals the Bible's dynamic influence in Australia and offers an innovative new perspective on Christianity and its changing role in our society. In the hands of writers, artists, wowsers, Bible-bashers, immigrants, suffragists, evangelists, unionists, Indigenous activists, and many more. A must-read for sceptics, the curious, the lapsed, the devout, the believer, and non-believer. ...Show more

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

Naïve Evangeline lost her position as a governess and her grip on her destiny when she found herself pregnant out of wedlock. After spending months in Newgate prison, she doesn't know whether she should be grateful or despairing when she is moved to a prison ship. What she does know is that her child wi ll almost certainly be born during the journey to Australia. On board, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, practically a child herself, sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. Great Britain considers Australia an unpeopled colony, but Mathinna is the orphaned daughter of the Chief of the Lowreenne tribe, one of a number of peoples whose lands have been seized and their way of life subject to criticism, study, and missionary zeal. Adopted by the new governor of Tasmania and brought to Hobart to live with the family, Mathinna is treated more like a curiosity than a child. Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna will become part of the story of the creation of a new society in the land beyond the seas.beyond the seas.beyond the seas.beyond the seas.   ...Show more

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

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

Australia's Vietnam - Myth vs History by Mark Dapin

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australian History

When Mark Dapin first interviewed Vietnam veterans and wrote about the war, he swallowed (and regurgitated) every misconception. He wasn't alone. In Australia's Vietnam, Dapin reveals that every stage of Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War has been misunderstood, misinterpreted and shrouded in myt h. From army claims that every national serviceman was a volunteer; and the level of atrocities committed by Australian troops; to the belief there were no welcome home parades until the late 1980s and returned soldiers were met by angry protesters. Australia's Vietnam is a major contribution to the understanding of Australia's experience of the war and will change the way we think about memory and military history. ...Show more