20th Century History

The Australian Liberal Party is in deep crisis. Losing the 'unloseable' election in 1993 gave it an unenviable record of five successive losses, nearly reversing the record of successes set...

Men at War takes an intimate look at the Australian 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion, which was formed in Victoria in 1940 as Australia entered the Second World War. In 1941 and...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE VICTORIAN PREMIER'S AWARD FOR FICTION 2023 'This is a great novel of enduring significance and enormous beauty.' - Sydney Morning Herald Sometimes you need to delve into...

From award-winning author and historian Janet McCalman, the engrossing tale of Tasmanian convict settlers in colonial Victoria It was meant to be 'Victoria the Free', uncontaminated by the Convict Stain....

'An extraordinarily vivid yet authentic account of the birthpangs of a nation. A work of real distinction' Philip Ziegler An award-winning epic on the birth of Australia In 1787, the...

'A loving history of the Australian people' - Sydney Morning Herald '...displays historical literacy, and plenty of humanity, empathy and compassion, all qualities rare in our public culture to be...

There was a bed, a timber floor, thin tar paper on one side for privacy from the nearby road but nothing else. The flimsiest of 'walls', no pegs or nails...

'Donald Mackay was not just an innocent victim tragically struck down by a criminal act. He was a casualty of the actual fight against organised crime ... killed on active...

Australia was born with its eyes wide open. Although politicians spoke publicly of loyalty to Britain and the empire, in secret they immediately set about protecting Australia's interests from the...

Between 1942 and 1943, Qantas lost eight aircraft during its involvement in Australia's war against the Japanese. Over sixty passengers and crew died as a result. Yet Qantas' exemplary contribution...

Monash and Chauvel follows the extraordinary campaigns of the two most outstanding battlefield commanders of the First World War across all the Allied armies: John Monash and Harry Chauvel. John...

'Karen McCartney's Iconic Australian Houses books are re-imagined so cleverly in this freshly redesigned, encyclopaedic book, which brings together in one volume the best of 50 years of Australian residential...

The Cold War between the West and the Soviet Bloc didn't end with detente in 1975: it just went underground. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, tensions...

'Grose's compassionate, honest and vivid account . deserves to be widely read.'- Sun-Herald The bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 is the battle Australia tries to forget. Although there...

By 1963, Robert Menzies had been prime minister for thirteen years, Australia had its first troops in Vietnam, and change was in the air. There would soon be street protests...

Winner of the 2015 Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance Winner of the 2016 Magarey Medal for Biography 'Connors lays down the hard truth. Not all our...

They were frequently not just on the front line, but right at the sharp end of the action. They were the legendary sappers, the army engineers, who were literally everywhere...

To the convicts arriving in Van Diemen's Land, it must have felt as though they'd been sent to the very ends of the earth. In Tasmania's Convicts Alison Alexander tells...

'All I could do was prod the earth with my bayonet and shine the light to see if I could find anything. It doesn't matter how small the tunnel is...

'This is an important, well researched book: challenging, compelling and controversial. It is a must read for anyone interested in Australian history.' - Henry Reynolds The Queensland frontier was more...

In this companion volume of Thomas Keneally's widely acclaimed history of the Australian people, the vast range of characters who have formed our national story are brought vividly to life....

'If I'd have been a Vietcong you'd be dead.' - Len Opie 'Len was a soldier above soldiers.' - Keith Payne VC Through three wars across 30 years, Len Opie...

Winner of the 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction 'Grace Karskens writes with the passion and insight of a novelist, and the accuracy of a historian. To read it...

A gripping and heartbreaking story, A Thousand Miles From Care tells the 30 year quest Steve Johnson undertook to uncover the truth about his brilliant brother's brutal murder in Manly....

The Greeks have made an enormous contribution to Australian cultural and social life, and this book vividly tells their story. Beginning with an examination of the conditions in Europe that...

A gripping and heartbreaking story, A Thousand Miles From Care tells the 30 year quest Steve Johnson undertook to uncover the truth about his brilliant brother's brutal murder in Manly....

From the bestselling author of The Nurses' War comes this charming, funny, pointed look at the golden years of radio broadcasting in post-war Australia, celebrating the extraordinary unseen women who...