Showing titles in Australia, New Zealand & Oceania

A lively history of the 'First Fleet' which took convicts from Britain to Australia in 1787; Sydney's early years as 'an open-air prison'; and the colonisation of New South Wales.

The story of modern Australia begins in 18th-century Britain, where people were hanged for petty offences but crime was rife and the gaols were bursting. From this situation was born the Sydney experiment, with criminals perceived to be damaging British society transported to Sydney, an 'open air prison with walls 14,000 miles thick'.

Eleven ships were dispatched in 1781 and arrived in Australia after eight hellish months at sea. Tom Keneally describes the first four years of the 'thief colony' and how, despite the escapes, the floggings, the murders and the rebellions, it survived against the odds to create a culture which would never have been tolerated in its homeland but which, in Australia, became part of the identity of a new and audacious nation.

Just after Christmas 1803, convict William Buckley fled an embryonic settlement in the land of the Kulin nation (now the Port Phillip area), to take his chances in the wilderness. A few months later, the local Aboriginal people found the six-foot-five former soldier near death. Believing he was a lost kinsman returned from the dead, they took him in, and for 32 years Buckley lived as a Wadawurrung man, learning his adopted tribe's language, skills and methods to survive.

Lachlan Macquarie is credited with shaping Australia's destiny, transforming a harsh, foreboding penal colony into an agricultural powerhouse and ultimately a prosperous society. He also helped shape Australia's national character. An egalitarian at heart, Macquarie saw boundless potential in Britain's refuse, and under his rule many former convicts went on to become successful administrators, land owners and businesspeople.

Bruce Pascoe has been described as a ‘living national treasure’ and his work as ‘revelatory’. This volume of his best and most celebrated stories and essays, collected here for the first time, ranges across his long career and explores his enduring fascination with Australia’s landscape, culture, land management and history.

Hudson Fysh was a decorated World War I hero who not only founded Australia's national airline, Qantas, but steered it for almost half a century from its humble beginnings with two rickety biplanes to the age of the jumbo jets. One of Australia's celebrated Light Horsemen at Gallipoli, Fysh went on to fly death-defying missions for Lawrence of Arabia with the Australian Flying Corps and battle Germans in deadly dogfights in the skies over Palestine.

El 29 de febrero del año 2000, John Price pidió una orden de alejamiento contra su novia, Katherine Knight. Más tarde, ese mismo día, dijo a sus compañeros de trabajo que ella le había apuñalado y que si alguna vez desaparecía, era porque Knight le había matado. Come hombres, es el relato dramático y apasionante de la primera mujer en Australia condenada a cadena perpetua sin libertad condicional, con la adición especial de "nunca ser liberada". La fascinante narración de Ryan Green introduce al oyente en el horror real experimentado por la víctima.

In 1938 sculptor Karl Duldig, his wife Slawa Horowitz-Duldig—inventor of the modern foldable umbrella—and their baby daughter Eva, left their home in Vienna for an uncertain future. They found a brief refuge in Singapore before arriving in Sydney on 25 September 1940. Australia was at war: they were classified as enemy aliens and interned in an isolated camp in northern Victoria.

Nancy Wake was a brave woman. She risked her life behind enemy lines during the Nazi occupation of France in the Second World War. The Gestapo dubbed her “The White Mouse” for her uncanny ability to evade their traps. When it became too dangerous, she left France—not to flee—but to join the resistance. Before the war, Nancy lived a life of luxury with her husband, a wealthy French industrialist.

Authored by Samuel Milner, this book delves into the critical campaign in Papua New Guinea, offering a detailed examination of the strategic battles, operational challenges, and the indomitable spirit of the Allied forces tasked with halting Japanese expansion in the Southwest Pacific. Through meticulous research and compelling narrative, Milner captures the harsh realities of jungle warfare, the strategic significance of the region, and the extraordinary efforts of the soldiers who fought there.

With travel tips and culture in our guidebooks written by a local, it is never too late to visit Waiheke Island. Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Greater Than a Tourist series, this book will give you candid travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination.

Mit einer Begrüßung hat er sich gar nicht erst aufgehalten. Schon als dieser scharfe, heiße Fremde behauptete, wir wären verlobt, wurde mir schwindlig. Dann hat er den Tyrannen in die Flucht geschlagen, der uns auf den Fersen war, und mich für die Nacht zu sich nach Hause geschleppt. Der helle Wahnsinn, oder? Falsch gedacht.Wenn du obdachlos und auf der Flucht bist und deinen kranken Vater in einem Truck transportierst, der so alt ist, dass er schon auf der Arche Noah gestanden haben muss, schluckst du deinen Stolz hinunter.

Criminality, some say, is part of Australia's national identity, and in Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags Jim Haynes profiles 15 larger-than-life Aussie rogues. These stories uncover the truth and expose the myths about characters ranging from the most despicable examples of humanity, to those whose courage has to be admired and whose so-called 'crimes' were unjustly punished. Told with Haynes's inimitable combination of history and humour, Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags is packed with murders, mystery and miscreants.

This is the story of a bush legend of the 20th century. A man who shunned society and chose to live a life alone with nature, with the mighty Murray River as his lifeline for 54 years. Max Jones, a Detective Sergeant with the South Australian Police Force, became interested in "The Possum" and to why he had "gone bush".

James Cook gilt als bedeutendster Entdecker nach Kolumbus. Freilich: Ohne Tupaia, Maheine und Mai wären seine Reisen unmöglich gewesen. Sie führten Cook in die Welt der Südsee ein, bewahrten seine Schiffe vor gefährlichen Korallenriffen und ersparten es ihm, in Neuseeland von den Maori als Eindringling massakriert zu werden.

As a teenage orphan in England in 1791, Mary Reibey was sentenced to death for stealing a horse. When police cornered her, she was dressed as a boy, and she maintained that disguise until she was unmasked at her trial. Due to her 'tender age', Reibey was spared the hangman's noose and sentenced to seven years' transportation to the colony of New South Wales. With the odds stacked against her, Reibey went on to become Australia's first female business tycoon and the richest woman in the colony, founding the Bank of New South Wales, now one of the nation's biggest financial institutions.

After spending almost 20 years in city courtrooms reporting for the ABC on some of the country's highest profile cases, Wells takes you into our country courtrooms, from the grand sandstone edifices of Cobar and Grafton to the repurposed community halls and police stations in outback Queensland the Northern Territory – introducing you to the court staff – the solicitors, prosecutors, magistrates, witnesses and the accused, in cases that shock, captivate and divide communities.

Five centuries before Kamehameha the Great, Kalaunui was the first person to attempt uniting all the islands under one rule. He led an army of 12,000 warriors in conquest, capturing the kings of Maui, Molokaʻi and Oʻahu. This war campaign became a rescue operation when the army of Kauaʻi defeated the invaders and took King Kalaunui hostage. Queen Kaheka ordered a second invasion to free her husband, but the prophetess Waahia suggested another option.

One day while sitting around the dinner table with his family, Victor Briggs’s Uncle Tim told him that on a visit to Hawaii, he had met an Indigenous Hawaiian Elder who told him a story. A long time ago, Indigenous Australian seafarers had sailed to Hawaii on the trade winds.

When my full-blooded Hawaiian mother was a very young girl, she was hanai adopted by her Aunty Ida. Being a personal friend of Queen Emma, Anty Ida lived in her summer palace in Nu'uanu. It was there that my mother lived and played. Many years later, my brother and I went to visit Queen Emma's summer palace with my mother. The palace was now a museum. I did not understand my mother's subdued spirit and silence. As we walked the palace, I could clearly see emotions welling up within her and then being suppressed.

Prepare to embark on an unforgettable journey in "Legacy of Valor," a compelling book that brings to life the remarkable stories of courage, resilience, and sacrifice from the heroes who fought on the frontlines during World War II. Step back in time and witness history through the eyes of those who lived it. This riveting collection of true tales takes you on an epic adventure, from the deserts of North Africa to the hills of Italy, offering a profound insight into the experiences of those who shaped the course of a world at war.