Dharawal: the first contact people - 250 years of black and white relations by Bruce Watt

$40.00 AUD

Category: History

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

$22.99 AUD

Category: History

Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that sugg ests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required. ...Show more

Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World (PB) by Simon Winchester

$34.99 AUD

Category: History

From the bestselling author Simon Winchester, a human history of land around the world: who mapped it, owned it, stole it, cared for it, fought for it and gave it back. The ownership of land has always been complicated, opaque, and more than a little anarchic when viewed from the outside. In this book, Simon Winchester explores the the stewardship of land, the ways it is delineated and changes hands, the great disputes, and the questions of restoration – particularly in the light of climate change and colonialist reparation. A global study, this is an exquisite exploration of what the ownership of land might really mean – not in dry-as-dust legal terms, but for the people who live on it. ...Show more

People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia by Grace Karskens

$39.99 AUD

Category: History

A landmark history of Australia's first successful settler farming area, which was on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. Award-winning historian Grace Karskens uncovers the everyday lives of ordinary people in the early colony, both Aboriginal and British.  

The Golden Maze: A Biography of Prague (HB) by Richard Fidler

$39.99 AUD

Category: History

ABC broadcaster and bestselling author of Ghost Empire and Saga Land, Richard Fidler is back with a personally curated history of the magical city that is Prague. In 1989, Richard Fidler was living in London as part of the provocative Australian comedy trio The Doug Anthony All Stars when revolution broke out across Europe. Excited by this galvanising historic, human, moment, he travelled to Prague, where a decrepit police state was being overthrown by crowds of ecstatic citizens. His experience of the Velvet Revolution never let go of him. Thirty years later Fidler returns to Prague to uncover the glorious and grotesque history of Europe's most instagrammed and uncanny city: a jumble of gothic towers, baroque palaces and zig-zag lanes that has survived plagues, pogroms, Nazi terror and Soviet tanks. Founded in the ninth Century, Prague gave the world the golem, the robot, and the world's biggest statue of Stalin, a behemoth that killed almost everyone who touched it. Fidler tells the story of the reclusive emperor who brought the world's most brilliant minds to Prague Castle to uncover the occult secrets of the universe. He explores the Black Palace, the wartime headquarters of the Nazi SS, and he meets victims of the communist secret police. Reaching back into Prague's mythic past, he finds the city's founder, the pagan priestess Libussa who prophesised: I see a city whose glory will touch the stars. Following the story of Prague from its origins in medieval darkness to its uncertain present, Fidler does what he does so well - curates an absolutely engaging and compelling history of a place. You will learn things you never knew, with a tour guide who is erudite, inquisitive, and the best storyteller you could have as your companion.  ...Show more

Black Summer: Stories of Loss, Courage and Community from the 2019-2020 Bushfires by Michael Rowland (Editor)

$34.99 AUD

Category: Current Affairs

Told by ABC journalists who were on the ground and broadcasting during our worst ever fire season, spearheaded by Michael Rowland The bushfires that burnt across Australia from June 2019 to February

The Carbon Club: How a Network of Influential Climate Sceptics, Politicians and Business Leaders Fought to Control Australia's Climate Policy by Marian Wilkinson

$32.99 AUD

Category: Politics

The inside story of how a network of influential climate sceptics, politicians and business leaders fought to control Australia's response to the climate crisis. As the climate crisis threatens more extreme bushfire seasons, droughts and floods, many Australians are demanding their leaders answer the qu estion: 'Why didn't you do something?' The Carbon Club reveals the truth behind Australia's two decades of climate inaction. It's the story of how a loose confederation of influential climate-science sceptics, politicians and business leaders sought to control Australia's response to the climate crisis. They shared a fear that dealing with climate change would undermine the nation's wealth, jobs and competitive advantage - and the power of the carbon club. Central to their strategy was an international campaign to undermine climate science and the urgency of the climate crisis. The more the climate science was questioned, the more politicians lost the imperative to act. The sustained success of the carbon club over two decades explains why Australian governments failed to deal with the challenge of climate change. But at what cost to us and the next generation? One of Australia's most respected investigative journalists, Marian Wilkinson has tracked the rise and rise of Australia's carbon club in brilliant detail, with extraordinary access to key players on all sides. The result is a book that is both essential and disturbing reading.   ...Show more

The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels Who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler by Chris Bryant

$29.99 AUD

Category: History

A story of unsung bravery at a defining moment in Britain's history'A fascinating, beautifully written story I had never heard before' Hugh GrantWe like to think we know the story of how Britain went to war with Germany in 1939, but there is one chapter that has never been told. In the early 1930s, a gr oup of young, queer British MPs visited Berlin on a series of trips that would change the course of the Second World War. As Hitler rose to power, they watched the Nazis arrest their gay and Jewish friends, send them to concentration camps and murder them. These men were some of the first to warn Britain about Hitler, repeatedly speaking out against their government's policy of appeasing him. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hated them. Branding them 'the glamour boys', he had them followed, harassed, spied upon and derided in the press. They suffered abuse, innuendo and threats of de-selection. At a time when even the suggestion of homosexuality could land you in prison, the bravery these men were forced to show in their personal lives gave them extraordinary courage in public. Adept at hiding their true nature, some became talented spies, while others witnessed the brutality of Hitler's camps first hand. Four of them died in action. And without them, this country would never have faced down the Nazis. Based on years of archival research, this is a story of unsung bravery at a defining moment in Britain's history.   ...Show more

Women and Leadership by Julia Gillard; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

$34.99 AUD

Category: Culture Studies

An inspirational and practical book written by two high-achieving women, sharing the experience and advice of some of our most extraordinary women leaders, in their own words. From their broad experience on the world stage in politics, economics and global not-for-profits, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Julia Gillard have some strong ideas about the impact of gender on the treatment of leaders. Women and Leadership takes a consistent and comprehensive approach to teasing out what is different for women leaders. Almost every year new findings are published about the way people see women leaders compared with their male counterparts. The authors have taken that academic work and tested it in the real world. The same set of interview questions were put to each leader in frank face-to-face interviews. Their responses were then used to examine each woman's journey in leadership and whether their lived experiences were in line with or different from what the research would predict. Women and Leadership presents a lively and readable analysis of the influence of gender on women's access to positions of leadership, the perceptions of them as leaders, the trajectory of their leadership and the circumstances in which it comes to an end. By presenting the lessons that can be learned from women leaders, Julia and Ngozi provide a road map of essential knowledge to inspire us all, and an action agenda for change that allows women to take control and combat gender bias. Featuring Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Clinton, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Theresa May, Michelle Bachelet, Joyce Banda, Erna Solberg, Christine Lagarde and more. ...Show more

A Last Goodbye (HB) by Elin Kelsey; Soyeon Kim (Illustrator)

$29.99 AUD

Category: Non-Fiction

How do we say goodbye to a loved one after they die? This book broaches a difficult topic in a heartfelt way by exploring the beauty in how animals mourn. From elephants to whales, parrots to bonobos, and lemurs to humans, we all have rituals to commemorate our loved ones and to lift each other up in di fficult times. New from the award-winning team behind You Are Stardust, Wild Ideas, and You Are Never Alone, this book gently recognizes death as a natural part of life for humans and all animals. Written in spare, poetic language and illustrated with stunning dioramas, it draws out our similarities with other animals as it honors the universal experience of mourning. The touching and uplifting book ends on a hopeful note, showing how we live on both in memories and on the planet, our bodies nourishing new life in the Earth and the oceans. ...Show more

Black, White and Exempt - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lives under Exemption by Lucinda Aberdeen; Jennifer Jones

$39.95 AUD

Category: History

In 1957, Ella Simon of Purfleet mission near Taree, New South Wales, applied for and was granted a certificate of exemption. Exemption gave her legal freedoms denied to other Indigenous Australians at that time: she could travel freely, open a bank account, and live and work where she wanted. In the eye s of the law she became a non-Aboriginal, but in return she could not associate -with other Aboriginal people - even her own family or community. It 'stank in my nostrils' -- Ella Simon 1978. These personal and often painful histories uncovered in archives, family stories and lived experiences reveal new perspectives on exemption. Black, White and Exempt describes the resourcefulness of those who sought exemption to obtain freedom from hardship and oppressive regulation of their lives as Aboriginal Australians. It celebrates their resilience and how they used their exempt status to increase opportunities for their families and advance Aboriginal rights including the abolition of the exemption system. ...Show more

Dear Santa (HB) by Samuel Johnson

$22.99 AUD

Category: Non-Fiction

Brother, actor, Victorian of the Year and determined cancer vanquisher Samuel Johnson OAM has gathered together a collection of letters to Santa from some of Australia's most notorious and best-loved grown-ups. Surprising, entertaining, wicked and witty, this little book of letters is the perfect gift for your favourite human. If you could ask Santa for absolutely anything, what would you ask for? Samuel Johnson OAM, Australia's favourite skylarker, brother and determined cancer vanquisher, has asked his friends and supporters (who just happen to be some of Australia's best writers, comics, actors, artists, musicians and personalities) to share their letters to Santa. Some letters are naughty. Some letters are nice. Some echo a favourite childhood memory. Some beg forgiveness. Some are angry. Some just want something sweet. Some want to change their own world, others want to change the whole world. Contributors include Helen Garner, Adam Hills, Deborah Mailman, Rove McManus, Leigh Sales, Grant Denyer, John Williamson, Myf Warhurst, John Paul Young, Mia Freedman, Shaun Micallef, Missy Higgins, and many more. This little book of letters is wicked, witty and warm-hearted. It will make you laugh, think and feel and is the perfect Christmas gift for those who speak human. ...Show more