Barrie Cassidy's dad Bill survived more than four years as a prisoner of war in World War II. He first saw conflict on Crete in May 1941, during the only large-scale parachute invasion in wartime history. Just four days later, Bill was wounded and eventually captured.Twice he tried to escape his internment—with horrific consequences. He suffer... Read more...

His wife Margaret was his 'best appointment', he called Malcolm Fraser 'Kerr's cur' after the Dismissal and when Sir Winton Turnbull called out in parliament 'I am a country member', Gough interjected 'I remember'.When it was suggested he was funny, Gough responded: 'Funny! Funny? Witty, yes. Epigrammatic perhaps, but not funny. You make me sound l... Read more...

Far from being the work of a madman, Anders Breivik's murderous rampage in Norway was the action of an extreme narcissist. As the dead lay around him, he held up a finger asking for a Band-Aid.Written with the pace of a psychological thriller, The Life of I is a compelling account of the rise of narcissism in individuals and society. Manne examines ... Read more...

Featuring a new introduction in response to Julia Gillard's memoir, this revised edition brings Paul Kelly's masterpiece on the Rudd-Gillard years up to the present. Drawing on more than sixty on-the-record interviews with all the major players, Triumph and Demise is full of remarkable disclosures. It is the inside account of the hopes, achievements... Read more...

Topical and up to the minute, Minority Policy: Rethinking governance when parliament matters explores the influence of marginal parliamentarians both within the major parties and on the cross benches in the formations of contemporary public policy.Despite Australia having minority government in some form for almost three decades, in theoretical and ... Read more...

Manning Clark was a complex, demanding and brilliant man. Mark McKenna's compelling biography of this giant of Australia's cultural landscape is informed by his reading of Clark's extensive private letters, journals and diaries-many that have never been read before.An Eye for Eternity paints a sweeping portrait of the man who gave Australians the si... Read more...

Our bush heritage helped to define our identity, but today Australia is a nation of cities. A higher proportion of Australians live in cities than almost any other country, and most of our national wealth is generated in them. For most of the twentieth century, our cities gave us some of the highest living standards in the world. But they are no lon... Read more...

Based on exclusive access to Turkish archives, Defending Gallipoli reveals how the Turks reacted and defended Gallipoli. Author and Turkish language expert Harvey Broadbent spent five years translating everything from official records to soldiers' personal diaries and letters to unearth the Turkish story.It is chilling and revealing to see this famo... Read more...

On a Sunday evening in July 2011, 40-year-old Anthony Dunning was pinned to the floor of Melbourne's Crown casino by security staff. Four days later, he died in the intensive care unit of the Alfred Hospital. The incident was reported to the police by two friends who were with Dunning on the night—not by Crown casino. Later that week, a spokes... Read more...

House of All Nations is Christina Stead's 1938 gripping portrayal of financial world success. Set in an exclusive European bank in the heady days of the early thirties, Stead weaves a remarkable tale of greedy, devious and shady characters, all brought together by their love of money. The director of the bank, Jules Bertillon, leads these gamblers, ... Read more...

Andrew Robb lived with an unspoken fear that what he passed off as 'not being good in the mornings' was something darker: a black dog whose daily visit lasted longer as the years passed. Worried about stigmas and letting people down, he avoided confronting the problem for four decades, the adrenaline of high-pressure and high profile jobs offering t... Read more...

In The Hard Sell, creative director Dee Madigan uses her trademark humour and down-to-earth approach to unveil the world of political advertising. Drawing on real-life stories from her own recent Federal and State campaigns, she gives us fascinating industry insight into:• How political ads are designed to work;• Who are they designed to w... Read more...

'Jim Sharman is one of Australia's visionary greats: low-brow, high-brow, pop yet classical, fearless and fun.'—Baz Luhrmann'The Sharman/Shaman/Showman firmament twinkles with galaxies as diverse as Rocky Horror, Hair, discovering Kubrick, Lou Reed, Weimar cabaret. He made Australian creativity hip and original and international when it really... Read more...

Melbourne University Press is proud to present Manning Clark's six-volume series, A History of Australia, published here for the first time in three paperback volumes. Today the six-volume history is one of the masterpieces of Australian writing. It is also one of the most passionately debated visions of Australian history, in which the struggle to ... Read more...

Melbourne University Press is proud to present Manning Clark's six-volume series, A History of Australia, published here for the first time in three paperback volumes. Today the six-volume history is one of the masterpieces of Australian writing. It is also one of the most passionately debated visions of Australian history, in which the struggle to ... Read more...

Forget about Ned Kelly and the bushrangers: for my money if you want a really romantic and exciting saga of Australia, take a look at our mining history. It's a turbulent, dramatic story with enough material for a bookshelf full of best-sellers ... a saga of tough men, iron-nerved gamblers, violence, death and glittering riches set against the backd... Read more...