Great Australian

How an ancient land became a great democracy. Longlisted for Best Non Fiction in the Indie Book Awards 2026 'Tony Abbott should be congratulated ... This history of Australia is vivid, readable, provocative' Geoffrey Blainey, historian 'I think it's very good' Tom Holland, historian Australia is...

How an ancient land became a great democracy. Longlisted for Best Non Fiction in the Indie Book Awards 2026 'Tony Abbott should be congratulated ... This history of Australia is vivid, readable, provocative' Geoffrey Blainey, historian 'I think it's very good' Tom Holland, historian Australia is...

The joyous, charming and utterly irresistible new novel from the author of mega-bestseller The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village At nearly ninety, retired nature writer Hattie Bloom prefers the company of birds to people, but when a fall lands her in a nursing home she struggles to...

Australia has always been a land of mysteries. Some are ancient, some are historical and many continue to perplex us today—and will probably continue to do so tomorrow. More often than most of us would like to think, things simply vanish and people disappear without explanation, leaving a trail of heartbreak across generations. Australia also has its fair share of buried loot and fabulous riches gone missing—somewhere. Master storyteller Graham Seal has gathered mysteries from around Australia.

“Enticing.” —The New York Times A young woman with a mysterious past searches for her father—who has committed an unspeakable crime—in an exquisitely lush historical novel set among the champagne vines of 19th-century Australia. Van Diemen’s Land, 1839. A young woman of means arrives...

Australia's greatest escape stories from two world wars Australia’s Greatest Escapes is a collection of stories about the most hazardous aspect of the prisoner of war experience – escape. Here is all the adventure, suspense and courage of ordinary Australians who defied their captors; men...

IT BEGAN WITH SIX STONES . . . From the deserts of Israel to the tsunami-lashed coasts of Japan, from the steppes of Mongolia to the most mysterious island on Earth—this is what we have come to expect from Matthew Reilly: stupendous action, white-knuckle suspense, heroes to cheer for, and an...

An entertaining collection of insider yarns by an Aussie Test cricket legend. 'In the Test arena, Dennis Lillee was never beaten. West Indian champion Viv Richards had taken the sword to all the international bowlers of his era. But when he came up against Lillee, it was a heavyweight fight between unrelenting combatants. Their contests were always take-no-prisoners affairs.'

Inspired by one of Ireland’s most haunting ballads… The Fields of Athenry – An Gorta Mór is a sweeping Irish historical novel of love, exile, and survival during the Great Famine. Michael is an ordinary Irish husband and father whose only crime is trying to feed his starving family. For that desperate act, he is arrested and transported across the world to Australia — a land so distant it might as well be the end of the earth. In a single moment, his family is torn apart. Left behind in a country hollowed by hunger, Mary must fight to keep their child alive as Ireland collapses ...

After I'd got him out of harm's way, I dived back in yet again and swam out past the surf-break, out to where the other two lads were floundering. Then, one at a time, I took them back onto the rocks – all done against the raging rip and wild surf. By then an hour or so had passed. Still, severe cuts, bruises and abrasions aside, I'd successfully saved the lives of the four young people who, in all probability, would've otherwise drowned.

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.

I tell you, you meet some strange characters in this game.... Boasting the biggest beats in the world - some as large as France - Australia's outback police have seen it all: natural disasters, incredible acts of selflessness, unspeakable crimes and daring rescues, just to name a few. And they've met some unforgettable characters along the way: from the murderer who stuffed his victims' bodies down wombat holes to the policeman who arrested his own wife....

The perfect companion based on the SBS TV show Great Australian Road Trips. Hit the open road alongside four beloved personalities as they journey through the country’s most iconic drives and hidden detours with this book based on the SBS TV show. The heartwarming show stars actor Claudia...

From the bravery of Australia's sailors to the great age of rail, the resilience of the truckers crossing the Nullarbor to the daring aviation pioneers who turned the skies into a new frontier, Great Australian Odysseys is a rich tapestry of adventure and ingenuity, with a good dose of Aussie laughs. Journey through tales of hardy truckers braving isolation, mechanical mishaps and political battles. Navigate the high seas with our first submariners' record-breaking journeys and daring rescues...

Journey through tales of hardy truckers braving isolation, mechanical mishaps and political battles. Navigate the high seas with our first submariners' record-breaking journeys and daring rescues. Relive the golden age of rail with evocative stories celebrating Australia's railway heritage, from Mark Twain Down Under to Ben Chifley's locomotive legacy. Soar through the skies with aviation legends such as Smithy, Bert Hinkler and Francis Birtles, whose courage and innovation transformed how we travel.

Greater than a Tourist: Cairns Queensland, Australia by author Rachel Caborn offers firsthand and personal insight into the best ways to visit and travel Tropical North Queensland. 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.

From the annals of the RSL come these riveting true stories, written by a host of ordinary Australians - diggers, POWs, nurses, entertainers, sailors, airman and many more - that capture the impact of war on those who took part. With eyewitness accounts ranging from the Fall of Singapore to the Kokoda Track and from Europe to the Middle East, these stories bring the Australian experience of the Second World War to life with humour, pathos and vivid detail.

Imagine a sea of sparkling, clear blue water speckled with multicoloured coral. Imagine crabs, turtles, dugongs, sea snakes and hundreds of species of fish swimming among this coral. Now imagine this scene stretching out for more than two thousand kilometres, or 1240 miles! This is the Great Barrier Reef, which is so expansive it is said that if you dived along it every day of your life you would not see it all.

From Kirsty Manning, author of The Song of the Jade Lily, comes a gripping World War II set historical novel about murder, secrets, and survival. A forgotten manuscript that threatens to unravel the past… Fresne Prison, 1940: A former maid at a luxury villa on the Riviera, Margot Bisset finds...

Drawing on interviews, official records, private archives, and his own family history, Jason M. Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ocean's greatest predator.