The Ghosts of Roebuck Bay: The 1942 Bombing of Broome, and its Tragic Aftermath by Ian W. Shaw

$32.99 AUD

Category: Broome History

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, but the shocking loss of human life can never be truly calculated. The Ghosts of Roebuck Bay tells the story of this tragedy, shining light on a story that has slipped through the cracks of history. A captivating tale of refugees and soldiers, of reputations made and lost, of survival and spirit that resonates to today. ...Show more

Convict Colony: The Remarkable Story of the Fledgling Settlement That Survived Against the Odds by David Hill

$32.99 AUD

Category: History

The author of the magnificent bestselling account of the First Fleet returns to early Sydney to tell the story of the years that followed as it's never been told before.

Mariners Are Warned : John Lort Stokes and H.M.S. Beagle in Australia 1837-1843 by Marsden Hordern

$42.99 AUD

Category: History

" John Lort Stokes was commissioned by the British Hydrographic Office in 1837 to survey and chart unknown parts of the Australian coastline. He was the last Royal Navy surveyor to hold such a roving commission as had Matthew Flinders and Phillip Parker King before him. The voyage lasted six years and his ship was H.M.S. Beagle, of Charles Darwin fame. Stokes circumnavigated Australia twice. In the north he discovered the Fitzroy, Albert and Flinders rivers and Port Darwin, and in the south charted that graveyard of sailing ships, Bass Strait. A century later, twelve of his charts were still in use. The occasional breathtaking foolhardiness of this earnest and conscientious man startles the reader, as it must have done his men. On a whim, Stokes twice risked drowning himself and others with him, and he made several daredevil escapes from crocodiles. The stories are gripping, and Marsden Hordern is a gifted and vigorous storyteller. He is ably assisted by the ship s mate, Helpman a chatty, witty chronicler. Mariners are Warned! is an engrossing biography, written with empathy by a fellow mariner. Winner of the Age Book of the Year; Victori ...Show more

Flight to Fame: Victory in the 1919 Great Air Race, England to Australia by Ross Smith; Peter Monteath (Editor)

$29.99 AUD

Category: History

 'Flight to Fame', a classic adventure story, tells the hair-raising tale of the world-first flight from England to Australia, in the words of the pilot, (Sir) Ross Smith. In March 1919, Australia's prime minister announced a prize of £10,000 for the first successful flight from Great Britain to Austral ia in under 30 days. Late that same year, the victorious pilots, Ross and Keith Smith, landed in Darwin to international acclaim. The 'New York Times' gushed: 'Captain Ross Smith has done a wonderful thing for the prestige of the British Empire. He must be hailed as the foremost living aviator.' Their achievement was the forerunner to the age of international air travel. During the race, Ross and his brother Keith (his co-pilot and navigator) wrote in their diaries daily, recording the journey of their four-man crew in their Vickers Vimy G-EAOU twin-engine plane, its open cockpit exposing them to snow, sleet, hail and unbearable heat. Originally published as '14,000 Miles Through the Air' (1922), Ross Smith's book recounts their danger-ridden, record-breaking journey - a mere 16 years after the Wright brothers first defied gravity for just a few seconds. This richly illustrated edition, published to coincide with the flight's centenary, is introduced and edited by historian Peter Monteath ...Show more

God Before Gugeri Luggers, Trucks & Water Bores & Other Kimberley Stories by GUGERI MICHAEL

$58.00 AUD

Category: History

The Gugeri family have been landmarks in the Kimberley for nearly a century. This book follows four generations of life in the north, from pearling, carrying, Anna Plains station, water boring, Cockatoo Island, oil drilling, wool carting, the Underworld, rockets, fishing, and many incidents and characte rs. Biographies of Doug Blythe, Billie King and details of many other Kimberley personalities are also offered. --Publisher's website. ...Show more

Captain Cook's Epic Voyage by Geoffrey Blainey

$34.99 AUD

Category: History | Reading Level: near fine

In 1768 Captain James Cook and his crew set out on a small British naval vessel in search of a missing continent. 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of that voyage, and Cook's 'discovery' of Australia. Captain Cook's Epic Voyage reveals the hardships and adventure of this remarkable quest, and the euphori a of discovering new lands. Drawing from his previous book, Sea of Dangers, in Captain Cook's Epic Voyage Professor Geoffrey Blainey takes readers once again on a vivid journey through history, challenging accepted views and the intersection of myth, science and exploration. ...Show more

Bull Catchers and Wild Riding Ringers

$49.99 AUD

Category: History

Kosciuszko by Nick Brodie

$29.99 AUD

Category: History

Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, is a dangerous place. Evan Hayes was an ordinary Australian battler. Hardworking, likable. Laurie Seaman was a world-wise American. Adventurous, affluent. When this athletic pair of cross-country skiers disappeared into the wilds of Kosciuszko they left a mystery, and became a sensation. Following their trail, Kosciuszko reveals the story of a young Australia between wars told by one of Australia's leading historical voices.  When Evan and Laurie went missing in August 1928, Australia's Snowy Mountains were remote. Traversing the globe from New York's Long Island to Siberia to Sydney and beyond Charlotte Pass, with shipboard romance and industrial strife along the way, this is the story of two very different people growing to manhood in a world of change. Accompanied by a diverse cast including motor car enthusiasts and aviators, bushmen and horsemen, trackers and journalists, this is the true story of a meeting of peoples and nations. This is history in a land of legend. From the world-famous to the nearly-forgotten, Kosciuszko is more than a mountain, it is a collective heritage, part of Australia's sense of self. Evan and Laurie are guides to this vantage point, to a time and place that deserves to be better known. At Kosciuszko, Australians came together in peacetime. And they did so simply because two mates vanished.   ...Show more

The Last Wild West - The Saga of Northern Territory Cattle Stations, by Neil H. Atkinson

$29.99 AUD

Category: History

Publishers by New Holland Publishers

Still in the Bush by Len Beadell

$22.99 AUD

Category: History

Laden with trig poles, theodolites - and porridge - Beadell and his team built roads, laid out town sites and undertook an enormous survey programme in order to prepare a test launching area in one of the most isolated parts of the world. The problems ranged from taking astrofixes in a cloudy sky and be coming surrounded by a sea of red mud, to patching a bald spot on a pet joey. All were solved by using those two most necessary ingredients of life in the bush - ingenuity and imagination. Len Beadell's descriptions of the countryside, the adventures the team experienced, and the Australian bush characters they encountered are by turns illuminating and hilarious. His high-spirited account of the work that had to be done 'before they called it Woomera' makes vivid and entertaining reading. ...Show more

Planting Dreams : Shaping Australian Gardens by Richard Aitken

$49.99 AUD

Category: Plants and Animals

'A garden should ...be just a little too big to keep the whole cultivated. Then it gives it a chance to go a little wild in spots' - Edna Walling, landscape designer Waratah or wattle? Chrysanthemum or rose? Planting Dreams celebrates the artistry and imagination that have shaped Australian gardens. Res pected garden historian Richard Aitken explores the environmental and social influences that have helped produce our unique gardening culture - from Indigenous land management and the earliest European garden at Farm Cove, to the potted plants and besser block screens of mid-twentieth century modernist design and beyond. Drawing on the unparalleled collections of the State Library of New South Wales, Planting Dreams showcases Australian garden making in all its richness and diversity through a stunning and intriguing mix of paintings, sketches, photographs, and prints, from popular culture to high art. 'An elegant look at the miraculous gardening evolution' - Indira Naidoo, author of The Edible Balcony ...Show more

Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash

$26.99 AUD

Category: History

When the Dutch East Indiaman Batavia struck an uncharted reef off the new continent of Australia on her maiden voyage in 1629, 332 men, women and children were on board. While some headed off in a lifeboat to seek help, 250 of the survivors ended up on a tiny coral island less than half a mile long. A b and of mutineers, whose motives were almost beyond comprehension, then started on a cold-blooded killing spree, leaving fewer than 80 people alive when the rescue boat arrived three months later. BATAVIA'S GRAVEYARD tells this strange story as a gripping narrative structured around three strong principal characters: Francisco Pelsaert, the cultivated but weak-willed captain; Jeronimus Cornelisz, a sinister apothecary with a terrifying personal philosophy influenced by Rosicrucianism who set himself up as the ruler of the island; and Wiebbe Hayes, the only survivor with the courage to fight Jeronimus¿s band. The background to these events, including the story of the Dutch East India Company, and the discovery of Australia, is richly drawn. ...Show more