Ned Kelly - Australia's beloved national icon - was once just a bushranger who had to be punished for his crimes. In 1880, everyone wanted him dead. There are many stories that form the Kelly myth. But the side of the story rarely told is what really happened in the 137 days between Ned's last stand at Glenrowan and the day the hangman's noose was placed around his neck. Who was with him in his last hours, and why did he have so many powerful enemies? Ned Kelly's Last Days exposes the blatant cover-ups, the corruption and the rampant press baying for blood that were ultimately Ned Kelly's deat... View More...
The laugh-out-loud, reach-for-your-hanky story of one of Australia's best-loved comedians. Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing - not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days - could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about. Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do eve... View More...
The story of an urban-based high achieving Aboriginal woman working to break down stereotypes and build bridges between black and white Australia. I'm Aboriginal. I'm just not the Aboriginal person a lot of people want or expect me to be. What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obsessed with notions of identity? Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate campaigner for Aboriginal literacy, was born a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school. She is Aboriginal - howeve... View More...
This biography of Frank Cobbold opens when Frank goes to sea on a Clipper aged 14. It follows him through inexperience as a Fijian trader who escaped the cannibals' cook pot and survived one of the worst hurricanes in living memory. In Australia he learned the skills of a surveyor and quickly became a sought-after and trusted station manager. Despite problems that would have defeated a less resolute man he took droughts, cheats and unyielding land tenure regulations in his stride to become one of Australia's great pioneering pastoralists. Admired by fellow bushmen, trusted by his partners a... View More...
Arthur William Upfield is well known as the creator of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) who features in 29 crime detection novels, most set in the Australian outback. He also wrote more than 220 short stories and articles, based on his experiences in the bush between 1911 and 1931. Up and Down the Real Australia is the second published collection of Upfield's short works. Kees de Hoog has selected 45 autobiographical articles, ranging from humorous outback anecdotes to personal experiences at Gallipoli and the Somme during the First World War. Kees has added The Murchison Mu... View More...
Arthur William Upfield is well known as the creator of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) who features in 29 crime detection novels, most set in the Australian outback. He also wrote more than 220 short stories and articles, based on his experiences in the bush between 1911 and 1931. Up and Down the Real Australia is the second published collection of Upfield's short works. Kees de Hoog has selected 45 autobiographical articles, ranging from humorous outback anecdotes to personal experiences at Gallipoli and the Somme during the First World War. Kees has added The Murchison Mu... View More...
Arthur William Upfield is well known as the creator of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) who features in 29 crime detection novels, most set in the Australian outback. It is not well known that he also wrote about 250 short stories and articles, drawing on his experiences in the bush between 1911 and 1931. Up and Down the Real Australia is the second published collection of Upfield's short works. Kees de Hoog has selected 45 autobiographical articles, ranging from humorous outback anecdotes to personal experiences at Gallipoli and the Somme during the First World War. Kees ha... View More...
Nat Buchanan was the first European to cross the Barkly Tablelands from east to west and first to take a large herd of breeding cattle from Queensland to the Top End of the Northern Territory. Buchanan created a droving record when he supervised 20,000 head over this route. Critique: If he was an American they would build a Hall of Fame in his honour, but Australians haven't heard of him. At last, a fitting tribute to one of the truly great Australians. Ted Egan View More...
Most Australians know something about Ned Kelly – his gang’s final shoot out with the police at Glenrowan, Ned in his iron armour taken down by troopers shooting at his exposed legs, his subsequent trial and hanging in Melbourne – it’s a story often told. But did you know that Ned was planning a republic of north-east Victoria? That many of the settlers in the area were ready to take on the establishment and form their own independent state? That Ned’s ‘life of crime’ can be linked to the gross corruption of the colonial Victorian police force? Historian Brad Webb has written the... View More...
In the bitter autumn of 1932, as the world crashed into the Great Depression, Australian motor ace Norman 'Wizard' Smith sat on the remote Ninety Mile Beach in far north New Zealand, waiting for the wind to change; waiting for a chance to drive his streamlined super car the Enterprise to a new world speed record. He would be the fastest man on earth - a golden god! He waited and waited ... Norman Smith was an enigma. A contemporary of Bradman, Kingsford Smith and Phar Lap, he was dumpy and shy. But when he got behind the wheel he became the Wizard, his command uncanny, the speeds breathless. ... View More...
Debra Byrne's life has been a roller-coaster ride of successes and adulation alongside scandal, drugs and depression. From her first showbiz triumphs on "Young Talent Time", Debra's existence had a darker side. From childhood abuse to underage sex, from the destructive evil of cocaine and heroin addiction to the black depths of depression, Debra lurched from one personal disaster to another - all the while performing to an adoring public, both as a recording artist and in musical-theatre smashes such as 'Cats' and 'Sunset Boulevard'. But, above all, Debra is a survivor, and, despite everything... View More...
Born without the lower half of his left leg, young Don Elgin never considered himself disabled until he was in high school - and even then, he had to be convinced. His story, of a boy from the bush who battled the odds and finally stepped onto the podium as a medallist at the Sydney Paralympics, is one of absolute inspiration. Driven by an inherited sense of grit, determination and pure guts, Don overcomes an abundance of obstacles to rise to the top of the sporting heap. His life's philosophy tells us that success is not a birthright - it's earned. If you're likely to buy only one book this ... View More...
This is an extremely well researched work which will be treasured by all horse riders. It is a very thorough account of Australian spurs and the bush blacksmiths like Fred Gutte who designed his on Wave Hill Station, but is much more that. If offers a romantic folklore of the horsemen who used the spurs in their sometimes dangerous and often lonely rides on the cattle stations between outback Queensland and the Kimberley. View More...
On 8th April 1811, the ship Friends sailed from England carrying 101 female convicts bound for the penal colony that was New South Wales. The crimes of the women and girls on board ranged from pickpocketing to murder, but most were convicted of theft. Susannah Noon, not yet in her teens, tried to steal four pairs of cotton stockings from a shop in Colchester. It earned her a sentence of transportation for seven years' 'beyond the seas'. It was a sentence that reverberated throughout her lifetime; she never returned to England. What drove most of these women, young and old, to crime was what ... View More...
My life has been a mad travelling show, meeting some of the strangest and greatest people who've ever lived. I've had my fair share of trouble and I'm lucky to be here. But I've always been a showman and I've done my best to preserve a precious part of an old Australia that's fast disappearing.' Son of a sideshow operator and trapeze artist, fourth-generation showman Fred Brophy grew up on the road, travelling the length and breadth of Australia. He did time in jail as a wild teenager before establishing his own successful boxing tent. It has become a star attraction in the Outback and is no... View More...
Meet Blue Bostock, Australia's first bullfighter and rodeo clown. Told in an authentic voice by an authentic Aussie character Blue Bostock: Australia's first bullfighter and rodeo clown is the colourful story of one man's life as one of this country's most famous rodeo riders. From his carefree days growing up in Mackay to international fame as a rodeo rider and bull fighter, Blue Bostock was never one to let an opportunity pass him by. Narrated by a true Aussie larrikin to one of his best mates, Geoff Allen, this book captures Blue's free spirit attitude to life, and his time on the Austral... View More...
This is the true life story of Smokey, King of the horse-duffers. One hundred years ago, as the Boer War came to an end, the rugged Kimberley Range formed the roughest and most remote cattle-country in Australia. It was five days hard ride from the nearest township of Wyndham to Smokey's Kimberley Underworld hideout. The police patrols sent out to arrest King Smokey faced a daunting task. The few passes through the forbidding King Leopold Ranges were guarded by fierce Aboriginal warriors known as Munjons. The Munjons waged a bitter war with the white stockmen, but for every spearing of the cu... View More...
The biography of David Helfgott, a gifted young Australian pianist who suffered a severe mental breakdown and was institutionalized. Although brilliant and charismatic, he was insecure and reliant on anti-psychotic medication, but eventually overcame his illness to achieve artistic greatness. This story was written by his wife Gillian, who tells of the powerful bond between them and of sharing her life with a man who came through the darkness of his past. View More...
The astonishing life of Ned Kelly's mother While we know much about the iconic outlaw Ned Kelly, his mother Ellen Kelly has been largely overlooked by Australian writers and historians - until now, with this vivid and compelling portrait by Grantlee Kieza, one of Australia's most popular biographers.When Ned Kelly's mother, Ellen, arrived in Melbourne in 1841 aged nine, British convict ships were still dumping their unhappy cargo in what was then known as the colony of New South Wales. By the time she died aged ninety-one in 1923, having outlived seven of her twelve children, motor cars plied ... View More...
Harry Gallagher's memoir is both a story of achievement and a unique love story. As a child of the Depression in Sydney's inner west Harry and his best friend Gloria made a playground of the local tip. The resourcefulness he learnt in these early years stood him in good stead as he took on the world, launching the careers of Jon Henricks, Dawn Fraser and many other swimming legends, and bringing Australia an avalanche of Olympic Gold. 'This is a story to inspire. It creeps into your bones, makes you want to achieve.' - Dawn Fraser View More...
![Image for Not Quite Ripe: A Memoir [used book] *** Temporarily Out of Stock ***](/assets/images/product/001247.jpg)
![Image for Love You to Bits and Pieces: True Story of David Helfgott and the Movie "Shine" [used book]](/assets/images/product/001164_c5e5901d08930782ccc2dae974f404fb.jpg)
![Image for Memories of a Fox [used book]](https://sdi2.chrislands.com/sdi/978/18/62/5/9781862544390.jpg)
