The urgent phone call comes from behind the barbed wire.'This is Ayalon prison,' says one of the guards urgently. 'Listen, he hanged himself, we need an ambulance.'Prisoner X, just 34 years old, was slumped in a small bathroom, separated from his cell by a transparent door. Kept in one of the most technologically sophisticated solitary jail cells, a... Read more...

In Australian Notebooks, Betty Churcher revisits some of the artworks she most cherishes—a seminal Picasso, early works of the Heidelberg School, a striking portrait by Lucian Freud—and invites us to look afresh at the treasures that can be found in Australian galleries.Taking in the glorious work of Australian artists such as John Olsen... Read more...

Part history, part guide, part source book—Cultivating Modernism will be an inspiration to all with an interest in gardens, books, and the recent past. For the garden maker, innovative design ideas open a door on new and creative ways to landscape the modern home. For the bibliophile, Cultivating Modernism comes alive through a kaleidoscopic m... Read more...

John Cantwell, Queensland country boy, enlisted in the army as a private and rose to the rank of major general. He was on the front line in 1991 as Coalition forces fitted bulldozer blades to tanks and buried Iraqi troops alive. He served in Baghdad in 2006 and saw what a car bomb does to a crowded marketplace. He was commander of Australian forces ... Read more...

Chelsea has had a rough week. After a few great years of professional triumphs and personal stability, she suddenly finds herself—at the grand old age of 28—homeless, jobless and single. Cheating on her boyfriend with her boss probably wasn't the brightest idea. Salvation comes in the form of her father, Gary 'Turbo' Turbiton, a once ma... Read more...

In Australian Notebooks, Betty Churcher revisits some of the artworks she most cherishes—a seminal Picasso, early works of the Heidelberg School, a striking portrait by Lucian Freud—and invites us to look afresh at the treasures that can be found in Australian galleries.Taking in the glorious work of Australian artists such as John Olsen... Read more...

When Jono Lineen's brother died in tragic circumstances, he gave up a comfortable life, moved to the Himalayas and over eight years immersed himself in the cultures of the world's highest mountains.The experience culminates in his book Into the Heart of the Himalayas, a fascinating memoir that traces his solo trekking odyssey from Pakistan to Nepal ... Read more...

'Grishin presents a story that is multilayered in its complexity and detail. [His book] at once broadens the scope of our national art and draws together these diverse strands into a compelling narrative. Above all it is a lively and insightful account of the diversity and richness of artistic endeavour of this country.' - Tony Ellwood, Director, Na... Read more...

John Cantwell, Queensland country boy, enlisted in the army as a private and rose to the rank of major general. He was on the front line in 1991 as Coalition forces fitted bulldozer blades to tanks and buried Iraqi troops alive. He served in Baghdad in 2006 and saw what a car bomb does to a crowded marketplace. He was commander of Australian forces ... Read more...

In a wartime nightmare of starvation, disease, brutality and death, Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop's courage and compassion made him an Australian legend.During more than three years as a surgeon in the notorious work camps and vast hospital camps along the Burma-Thailand railway, he worked tirelessly to save lives and get men home to their families. He ... Read more...

Witnesses to War is a landmark history of Australian war journalism covering the regional conflicts of the nineteenth century to the major conflicts of the twentieth: World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Bosnia through to recent and ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fay Anderson and Richard Trembath look at how journalists reported the horrors... Read more...

The simple tale of Simpson and his donkey is the pre-eminent legend of heroism. It is the story of a humble water-carrier, a rescuer of wounded men, a tale of compassion, stoic persistence, with a tragic end. His tale is an integral part of the Anzac story.Across time, a simple tale can acquire a complicated history. This is what happened to the man... Read more...

Transported convict George Clarke absconded in the early 1800s and went far into the then unexplored wilderness of northern New South Wales. There, thought by the Aborigines to be a 'ghost', he lived with them for four years integrating into their lives and later leading them on raids to steal the white men's cattle.On eventual capture he claimed to... Read more...

Emily Skinner, vibrant, observant, eternally young-at-heart, emigrated from Britain to Australia in 1854. Not only did she keep a ship-board journal, she later recorded her reminiscences of a colourful life as a miner's wife.Here, published for the first time, is Emily's account of a voyage half-way around the word to marry her sweetheart. She evoke... Read more...

This book examines the Kelly Outbreak against its geographical and social background. Failure to unlock the land through selection had created a class of struggling selectors who felt that the established authority of squatters and police denied them justice. Their sympathy and support helped Ned come and go as he pleased, despite the price on his h... Read more...

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 realise an Australian nation is played out on an epic scale.A History of Australia ,Volumes 1 & 2, From Earliest Times to 1838, deals with the pre-white settlement era ... Read more...