Troy by Stephen Fry

$29.99 AUD

$35.00 (14% off)

Category: History | Series: Stephen Fry's Greek Myths | Reading Level: near fine

Following Top Ten bestsellers Mythos and Heroes, this third volume retells the epic tale of Troy The story of Troy speaks to all of us - the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the city of Troy, to which they will lay siege for ten whol e years. It is a terrible war with casualties on all sides as well as strained relations between allies, whose consequences become tragedies. In Troy you will find heroism and hatred, love and loss, revenge and regret, desire and despair. It is these human passions, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore, that still speak to us today. ...Show more

Byron Bay: The History, Beauty and Spirit by Peter Duke

$59.95 AUD

Category: History

Byron Bay: The History, Beauty and Spirit is a beautiful hard cover coffee table book that offers a unique glimpse of Byron Bay and the surrounding region. It provides a visual feast and remarkable insight into the people and landscapes of the unique community that is Byron Bay. This stunning collection of 150 photographs, narratives, artwork and poetry chronicles the dynamic human history of the eastern most point on Australia's mainland. The contemporary design of this delightful book features the work of some of Byron Bay's most renowned photographers and story tellers including, Di Morrissey (Forward), Grace Knight, Bob McTavish and a host of other local identities. Educational, fun and laced with love, Byron Bay: The History, Beauty and Spirit also pays tribute to the exceptional people who have made Byron Bay such a special place. ...Show more

The Difference Identity Makes by Lawrence Bamblett (Editor); Fred Myers (Editor); Tim Rowse (Editor)

$39.95 AUD

Category: History

The Rodchenkov Affair by Grigory Rodchenkov

$35.00 AUD

Category: History

Can one man take down an empire? The Rodchenkov Affair is a breathtaking real-life political thriller. As a leading chemical scientist and Director of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov was at the forefront of global efforts to detect drugs cheats in sport. Yet he was simultaneous ly running the most elaborate doping scheme in history, helping thousands of athletes and elite players evade detection. Then the cracks started to show, and Vladimir Putin sent him a chilling message . . . Icarus, the Oscar-winning Netflix film, followed Grigory Rodchenkov as he turned whistleblower, fled Russia and entered the US Witness Protection Programme. In this explosive memoir he reveals how everything he has exposed so far -- leading to Russia's double Olympic bans - is merely the tip of the iceberg. Drawn from diaries, official e-mails and memos smuggled out of Russia, The Rodchenkov Affair is the full story by the one man the Kremlin hoped would never talk about its quest to win at all costs. 'I am a patriot, yet I am a traitor. I am one of the reasons my country has won so many Olympic medals over the last decade, yet I am also the reason they are banned from the Olympics. I am a devoted husband and father, yet I have seen neither my wife or my children in two years. If you read the news, you will see that my name is everywhere, yet I myself am nowhere. I am known throughout Russia, yet I am a ghost. Living anonymously in an anonymous town, under the protection of the US government, in fear from my life, somewhere in America - the one country I tried my hardest to help my country beat, year after year, decade after decade' ...Show more

The Persecution of the Templars: Scandal, Torture, Trial by Alain Demurger; Teresa Lavender Fagan (Translator)

$24.99 AUD

Category: History

The trial of the Knights Templar is one of the most infamous in history. Accused of heresy by the king of France, the Templars were arrested and imprisoned, had their goods seized and their monasteries ransacked. Under brutal interrogation and torture, many made shocking confessions: denial of Christ, d esecration of the Cross, sex acts and more. This book follows the everyday reality of the trial, from the early days of scandal and scheming in 1305, via torture, imprisonment and the dissolution of the order, to 1314, when leaders Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay were burned at the stake. Through first-hand testimony and written records of the interrogations of 231 French Templars, this book illuminates the stories of hundreds of ordinary members, some of whom testified at the trial, as well as the many others who denied the charges or retracted their confessions. A deeply researched and immersive account that gives a striking vision of the relentless persecution, and the oft-underestimated resistance, of the once-mighty Knights Templar. ...Show more

The Humans by Jonny Marx

$39.99 AUD

Category: History

This book showcases the greatest achievements of ancient civilisations, peoples and iconic figures from history. From the Nubians to the Native Americans, and the Akkadians to the Aztecs, our predecessors have pioneered a plethora of wonderful and wacky inventions, technologies and practices. They've co nstructed monumental buildings and sprawling cities, created languages, modes of transport, art, medicines, music, stories, myths and more. Let's delve into the past and discover what humankind accomplished in the centuries and millennia since the first civilisations were formed ... ...Show more

Breaker Morant by Peter FitzSimons

$49.99 AUD

Category: 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

Australian Women Pilots: Amazing True Stories of Women in the Air by Kathy Mexted

$34.99 AUD

Category: History

There's a lot of aeroplanes and aviators down in that water. Thank God I'm not one of them.From pioneering and outback flights to delivering Spitfires or tackling the jungles of New Guinea, Australian Women Pilots tells of ten Australians with extraordinary stories.Women have been flying since the early days of aviation but, with a few notable exceptions, they have rarely been visible or well known. Kathy Mexted shares the feats of trailblazers like Nancy Bird Walton, Deborah Wardley, who was told by Ansett that women couldn't be pilots, and Gaby Kennard, the first Australian woman to fly solo around the world. Others are perhaps less known, but as pilots involved with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Britain's Air Transport Auxiliary, the RAAF, aerial agriculture or long-range ferrying, their stories are just as extraordinary.Packed with drama, adventure and sometimes heartbreak, this riveting book is a salute to those women who refused to keep their feet on the ground.'Pass this book onto a young woman, who has a dream, and inspire her to take action in whatever direction she chooses…who knows where she can end up.' — Matt Hall, Red Bull Air Race World Champion 'Like most of these pilots, I was often away from home, working mostly with men, and figuring out how I fitted into it all. In my 30-year music career, I've had many girls approach me to tell me that they picked up a bass after seeing me play. I hope that by reading this book, young women will see what they can be.' — Janet English, Bass Guitarist of Spiderbait ...Show more

Batavia by Peter FitzSimons

$34.99 AUD

Category: History

Bataviais the greatest story in Australia?s history and history comes to life with Peter Fitzsimons.The Shipwreck of the Batavia combines in just the one tale the birth of the world's first corporation, the brutality of colonisation, the battle of good vs evil, the derring-do of sea-faring adventure, mu tiny, ship-wreck, love, lust, blood-lust, petty fascist dictatorship, criminality, a reign of terror, murders most foul, sexual slavery, natural nobility, survival, retribution, rescue, first contact with native peoples and so much more. Described by author Peter FitzSimons as "a true Adults Only version of Lord of the Flies, meeting Nightmare on Elm Street," the story is set in 1629, when the pride of the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, is on its maiden voyage en route from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, laden down with the greatest treasure to leave Holland. The magnificent ship is already boiling over with a mutinous plot that is just about to break into the open when, just off the coast of Western Australia, it strikes an unseen reef in the middle of the night. While Commandeur Francisco Pelsaert decides to take the long-boat across 2000 miles of open sea for help, his second-in-command Jeronimus Cornelisz takes over, quickly deciding that 250 people on a small island is unwieldy for the small number of supplies they have. Quietly, he puts forward a plan to 40 odd mutineers how they could save themselves, kill most of the rest and spare only a half-dozen or so women, including his personal fancy, Lucretia Jansz - one of the noted beauties of Holland - to service their sexual needs. A reign of terror begins, countered only by a previously anonymous soldier Wiebbe Hayes, who begins to gather to him those are prepared to do what it takes to survive . . . hoping against hope that the Commandeur will soon be coming back to them with the rescue yacht. It all happened, long ago, and it is for a very good reason that Peter FitzSimons has long maintained that this is "far and away the greatest story in Australia's history, if not the world's." FitzSimons unique writing style has made him the country's best-selling non-fiction writer over the last ten years, and he is perfect man to make this bloody, chilling, stunning tale come alive. ...Show more

The Windsor Diaries: 1940-45 by Alathea Fitzalan Howard

$34.99 AUD

Category: History

The Windsor Diaries are the never-before-seen diaries of Alathea Fitzalan Howard, who lived alongside the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at Windsor Castle during the Second World War. Alathea's home life was an unhappy one. Her parents had separated and so during the war she was sent to live wi th her grandfather, Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park. There Alathea found the affection and harmony she craved as she became a close friend of the two princesses, visiting them often at Windsor Castle, enjoying parties, balls, cinema evenings, picnics and celebrations with the Royal Family and other members of the Court. Alathea's diary became her constant companion during these years as day by day she recorded every intimate detail of life with the young Princesses, often with their governess Crawfie, or with the King and Queen. Written from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two, she captures the tight-knit, happy bonds between the Royal Family, as well as the aspirations and anxieties, sometimes extreme, of her own teenage mind. These unique diaries give us a bird's eye view of Royal wartime life with all of Alathea's honest, yet affectionate judgments and observations - as well as a candid and vivid portrait of the young Princess Elizabeth, known to Alathea as 'Lilibet', a warm, self-contained girl, already falling for her handsome prince Philip, and facing her ultimate destiny: the Crown. ...Show more

Who Owns History? Elgin's Loot and the Case for Returning Plundered Treasure by Geoffrey Robertson

$22.99 AUD

Category: History

Hard on the heels of his best-selling autobiography Rather His Own Man, one of Australia's foremost public intellectuals turns his mind to one of the most important contemporary questions that divides the world of art and culture- the restitution of heritage treasures removed in earlier times from subju gated peoples who now want them back. Taking his cue from Cicero, the great Roman barrister, Geoffrey Robertson argues that justice requires the return not only of the 'Elgin' Marbles to Greece, but of many looted antiquities on display in the museums of Britain, Europe and America. He argues that the Gweagal Shield - dropped when Cook shot at Aboriginals in Botany Bay in 1770 - should be returned to Australia from the British Museum. He wants the government to acquire the hull of HMS Endeavourrecently located off Rhode Island. He has located Arthur Phillip's tombstone for Yemmerrawanne, the first Australian expatriate, in a South London churchyard, and he wants to bring it back. Robertson's judgement is uncompromising- cultural heritage belongs to the people of whose history it is a part, unless its return would be attended by danger to the artwork itself. And since the movement for the restitution of cultural property is based on human rights, governments that want it back must show respect for the rights of the peoples on whose behalf they make the claim. Who Owns History?not only delves into the crucial debate over the Marbles, but examines how the past can be experienced by everyone, as well as by the people of the country of origin. ...Show more

Moonlite: The Tragic Love Story of Captain Moonlite and the Bloody End of the Bushrangers by Garry Linnell

$34.99 AUD

Category: History

Charismatic, intelligent and handsome, George Scott is unlike any other bushranger. Born into a privileged life in famine-wracked Ireland, Scott's family loses its fortune and is forced to flee to New Zealand. There, Scott joins the local militia and fights as a soldier against the Maori in the brutal N ew Zealand wars. After recovering from a series of serious gunshot wounds, he sails to Australia and becomes a Lay Preacher, captivating churchgoers with his fiery and inspiring sermons. But Scott is also prone to bursts of madness. The local villagers back in Ireland often whispered that a 'wild drop' ran in the blood of the Scott family. One night he dons a mask in a small country town, arms himself with a gun and, dubbing himself Captain Moonlite, brazenly robs a bank before staging one of the country's most audacious jailbreaks. After falling in love with fellow prisoner James Nesbitt, a boyish petty criminal desperately searching for a father figure, Scott finds himself unable to shrug off his criminal past. Pursued and harassed by the police, he stages a dramatic siege and prepares for a final showdown with the law - and a macabre executioner without a nose. Meticulously researched and drawing on previously unpublished material, Moonlite is a brilliant work of non-fiction that reads like a novel. Told at a cracking pace, and based on many of the extensive letters Scott wrote from his death cell, Moonlite is set amid the violent and sexually-repressed era of Australia in the second half of the 19th century. With a cast of remarkable characters, it weaves together the extraordinary lives of our bushrangers and the desperation of a young nation eager to remove the stains of its convict past. But most of all, Moonlite is a tragic love story. For these are the dying days of the bushrangers and Captain Moonlite is about to make his last stand. ...Show more