More Australians died in the months of fighting in Papua, than in any other campaign of World War II. Now bestselling author Peter FitzSimons tells the Kokoda story in a gripping, and moving, style for all Australians. Kokoda was a defining battle for Australia, where a small force of young, ill-equipped Australians engaged a highly experienced and hitherto unstoppable Japanese force on a narrow, precarious jungle track. Again and again, the outnumbered Australians risked everything to stop the Japanese from advancing along the track towards mainland Australia. Conditions on the track were hellish - rain was constant, the terrain close to inhospitable, food and ammunition supplies were practically non-existent and the men constantly battled malaria and dysentery, as well as the Japanese. The Australian troops were wounded and exhausted beyond belief, but always found that extra bit of spirit to fight on, with the help of the local people. Kokoda is a superb blend of authority and gripping storytelling-history at its best.

    Luke, Billy and I missed school for the whole winter term.Join Grace and her family on their adventurous and sometimes funny expedition. A warm, heartfelt story based on an actual journey undertaken by the much-loved, award-winning author and illustrator, Alison Lester.

    Some of the dinner guests – most of them university students – had heard rumours of the plan. Nobody warned Joe Cinque. He died one Sunday, in his own bed, of a massive dose of Rohypnol and heroin. His girlfriend and her best friend were charged with murder.Helen Garner followed the trials in the ACT Supreme Court. Compassionate but unflinching, this is a book about how and why Joe Cinque died. It probes the gap between ethics and the law; examines the helplessness of the courts in the face of what we think of as "evil"; and explores conscience, culpability, and the battered ideal of duty of care.It is a masterwork from one of Australia's greatest writers.

    s/t: A Biography of Australia's Greatest Military Commander

     Brothers cease speaking to each other, husbands abandon wives and children, grown men are haunted by childhood fears. People struggle against the weight of their own history and try to reconcile themselves to their place in the world. With extraordinary insight and tenderness, Winton explores the demons and frailties of ordinary people whose lives are not what they had hoped.

    All they have in common is a tough beginning in life.Jack McKenzie is a harmonica player, soldier, dreamer and small-time professional fisherman from a tiny island in Bass Strait. Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan is a strong-willed woman hiding from an ambiguous past in Shanghai. Larger than life, Private Jimmy Oldcorn was once a street kid and leader of a New York gang. Together they reap a vast and not always legitimate fortune from the sea.Brother Fish is an inspiring human drama of three lives brought together and changed forever by the extraordinary events of recent history. But most of all it is about the power of friendship and love.In my experience, friendship is the companion that walks beside love and is often the more enduring of the two. In this book I write about friendship of the deep and abiding kind, unshakeable and unconditional. Three people, seemingly worlds apart, demonstrate the capacity all humans have to reach out and touch each other. I do hope you enjoy Brother Fish.Bryce Courtenay

    Based on extensive research in Australia and Japan, and including previously unpublished documents, Kokoda intimately relates the stories of ordinary soldiers in 'the world's worst killing field', and examines the role of commanders in sending ill-equipped, unqualified Australian troops into battles that resulted in near 100 per cent casualty rates. It was a war without mercy, fought back and forth along 90 miles (145 km) of river crossings, steep inclines and precipitous descents, with both sides wracked by hunger and disease, and terrified of falling into enemy hands. Defeat was unthinkable: the Australian soldier was fighting for his homeland against an unyielding aggressor; the Japanese ordered to fight to the death in a bid to conquer 'Greater East Asia'. Paul Ham captures the spirits of those soldiers and commanders who clashed in this war of exceptional savagery, and tells of the brave souls on both sides of the campaign whose courage and sacrifices must never be forgotten.

    While the demand for inspirational books is ever expanding, this book takes a refreshing and creative approach that's unlike any other.More about When I Talk to YouWhen asked to pen a weekly cartoon for Melbourne's Sunday Age newspaper more than 15 years ago, Michael Leunig struggled with the idea of creating just another humor strip. He recognized the need to offset the anxiety and distress found in the news but was determined to take a decidedly different approach from his cartooning peers.The result was a cartoon that delivered a spiritual message with its inspirational words and straightforward, poignant drawings. Before long, it developed a huge, faithful following and turned Leunig into an Australian national treasure.Now, he is sharing his illuminating prayers and drawings worldwide in When I Talk to You, a collection of more than 80 of his poignant prayers and delightful drawings. The book looks at life in all its sadness, joy, and-at times-seeming absurdity, and offers people hope through the power of prayer.Leunig's encouraging words are part inspiration, part desperation-capturing one man's quest for love, the spirit, and a better world. It's a search that resonates with anyone who has ever grappled with life and its unpredictable ways.

    But behind the music lay a ghost city of malice and corruption.Pressed under the thumb of the Bjelke-Petersen government and its toughest enforcers - the police - Brisbane's musicians, radio announcers and political activists braved ignorance, harassment and often violence to be heard."Pig City" maps the shifts in musical, political and cultural consciousness that have shaped the city's history and identity. This is Brisbane's story - the story of how a city finally grew up.

    Its impressive vocal abilities, its propensity to play and clown, and its willingness to interact with people, make the magpie one of our most well-known birds.This insightful book presents a comprehensive account of the behavior of one of Australia's best-loved icons. It reveals the extraordinary capabilities of the magpie, including its complex social behavior, in a highly readable text. The author brings together much of what we know about the magpie's biology and behavior, including her latest research on magpie vocalization as well as aspects of anatomy, physiology, development and health not published previously.

    The conventional wisdom is to cash these in so that we become the world's richest people. But how likely is that to make us any happier? In fact, the rate of clinical depression in the West has been rising since the 1950s. Richness of spirit cannot be bought across the counter.Green wisdom, on the other hand, is to capitalise on Australia's wealth by charting an independent role in world affairs, and by so doing improve the prospects of all the world's people, safeguarding the global environment and human security. This intertwining of social equality and democracy with environmental protection is the mainstay of the Greens' footbridge to a better future.Of course, fairness begins at home. In Australia, the policies of the Greens are directed towards cradle-to grave public health and education, a reversal of the nation's ever-worsening environmental indices, and enhanced employment and workplace conditions. We Greens rate above par in our political energy. In a period of government obsessed with the rule of the market, our advocacy has directly influenced the freeing of East Timor and the end of mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, helped slow the drift of funding away from public schools and medicine, and applied a strong stay on the erosion of civil liberties in the name of fear and terror.Anyone who was surprised by my stand on the issue of refugees in the run-up to the November 2001 federal election should read the Charter of the Global Greens in the appendices of this book. In August of that year the Norwegian freighter the Tampa, at Australia's request, picked up more than 400 boat people who were at risk – and was then ordered by John Howard to stay out of Australian waters. After talking the matter over with Ben Oquist in the Greens Senate office, and with the Greens charter guiding every step of the way, I held an immediate press conference to defend the human rights of the refugees, as well as the humanitarian dignity of Australia. The Tampa, I made it clear, should be brought to Australia and its refugees treated in accordance with the law.The result was an instant barrage of abusive mail, including bullets and pictures of nooses, and then, three months later, a doubling of the Greens' vote across the nation. The green alternative had struck a chord.Some people worry that a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote, but in fact it has double the value. Under Australia's preferential voting system, if your minor party candidate is not elected, your whole vote goes to your major-party preference. Better still, an increase in the Greens' vote indicates to the big parties where your real policy preference lies. Those who wonder how the Greens would handle power will be helped by the chapter 'The Balance of Power' – we Greens have already shown that we can win important gains for the community and the environment through a role in government, even during turbulent times.This book is not a comprehensive text on Greens politics. It consists of stories from along the road I have taken, from my years as an environmental campaigner concerned for all humanity to being a Greens senator, with discussion of some of the issues on the way. For obvious reasons the book is Tasmania-centric in parts, but the issues these chapters encompass – such as the logging of native forests and the threat to coastlines – are the same elsewhere in Australia and indeed in the rest of the world.I am acutely aware that so many of the friends I have worked with through the years – from the Franklin blockade to the foundation of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund and the Greens, and my years in elected office – aren't named between these covers. And yet every venture has been a joint one, with like-minded people and special individuals who each deserve an accolade and have my great thanks.It is a fortunate life if, at 59, a person feels more optimistic and fulfilled than ever before. That's me. I love my job; there is constant reward in seeing people join the Greens, and, most of all, in the contribution we are making to Australia's future wellbeing. My political awareness unfolded during the Cold War, with its underpinning philosophy of mutually assured (nuclear) destruction. The alternative of a world united in sharing resources, and diverting the money spent on arms in order to eradicate child poverty, makes as much good sense now as it did then, and appeals to the finer instincts in us all.The Greens are the world's political antidepressant. I hope this memo for a saner world will strike a chord with you too. ~ Bob Brown

    Its impressive vocal abilities, its propensity to play and clown, and its willingness to interact with people, make the magpie one of our most well-known birds.This insightful book presents a comprehensive account of the behaviour of one of Australia's best-loved icons. It reveals the extraordinary capabilities of the magpie, including its complex social behaviour, in a highly readable text. The author brings together much of what we know about the magpie’s biology and behaviour, including her latest research on magpie vocalisation as well as aspects of anatomy, physiology, development and health not published previously.

    She gathers together her brothers and her sister, packs an old pram with their belongings, and sets off to find her father. It is a long walk, and the children have to face the dangers and hardships of a country suffering the Depression. But on their journey, Isa soon learns that most people will give everything they have to help a small, courageous family survive. And some will do anything to stop them.

    Barrett’s outrageous columns on life in Australia PLUS the ultimate Les Norton trivia challenge.Mud Crab BoogieOogie oogie oogie, do the Mud Crab Boogie. Look out Wagga Wagga — Les Norton’s in town and he feels like dancing …The Wind and the MonkeyA week in Shoal Bay, and all Les has to do is help Eddie get rid of a crooked cop. But then he meets Digger, and finds Elvis …So What Do You Reckon?The master of the politically incorrect on everything from duck-shooting to punting to the republic …TrifectaIt’s a sure bet.

    They traversed country according to the seasons, just as the Walmajarri people had done for thousands of years. But it was a time of change. Desert people who had lived with little knowledge of European settlement were now moving onto cattle stations. Those left behind were vulnerable and faced unimaginable challenges.In 1961, when Jukuna leaves with her new husband, young Ngarta remains with a group of women and children. Tragedy strikes and Ngarta is forced to travel alone. Her survival depends on cunning and courage as she is pursued by two murderers in a vast unforgiving landscape.Jukuna’s rich account may be the first autobiography written in an Aboriginal language. Presented in English and Walmajarri, her determination to see her language written has made her one of our most valued authors.

    In this Franklin TV Storybook, Franklin discovers through his new teacher that learning about different people and places can be fun and rewarding.

    He was born in 1922 near Warrnambool, and by the time he passed away in March 2000 he was known and loved by thousands for his wisdom and compassion. Wisdom Man covers Banjo’s life from his childhood on a mission, through the grim years of the Depression, his solo travels in search of work, the birth of his eleven children, and his embrace of the Baha’i faith, which he found very close to Aboriginal spirituality. His story is one of remarkable forbearance during terrible encounters with racism, cruelty and the loss of loved ones, and is made all the more extraordinary by his lack of bitterness and anger. Wisdom Man also distils the essence of Aboriginal culture: Banjo constantly points to those aspects which he sees as relevant to all humanity, particularly in terms of our relationship with the land. Banjo Clarke embodied the spirit of reconciliation in its most generous and forgiving form, espousing and living it long before it was given a name, long before it became fashionable.Includes a foreword by former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who knew Banjo, and tributes by Archie Roach, Martin Flanagan, Judith Durham, among others – a sample of the wide range of people whose lives he touched. Countless people from all over the world came to Warrnambool to seek him out, and his door was always open to the homeless and the troubled.

    Methods for dissecting flowers and observing their structure for identification purposes are clearly described..

    

    The other animals are very worried. How will they get their water back? Maybe little Eel has the answer.

    This is the first complete field guide to all butterfly species on Australia s mainland and its remote islands. Written by one of Australia's leading lepidopterists, it is stunningly illustrated with color photographs of each of the 416 currently identified species. There is also a distribution map for each species on the Australian mainland. It covers the five major family groups: Hesperiidae, Paplionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae, as well as the family Riodinidae, which has but a single species in Australia. The introduction covers adult structure, classification, distribution and habitats, and life cycle and behavior. This is followed by accounts of each of the 416 species, giving common name, scientific name, and other names (if any), as well as details of behavior, habitat, status, and larval food plants. Accompanying each species is a distribution map, and photographs of the upperside and underside of both male and female specimens. The book also contains a checklist of all species, a list of entomological contacts, a glossary, a bibliography, an index of common names and an index of scientific names. Supplementary section Collecting and Preserving Butterflies is available as a free download (Adobe Acrobat format - 331 kb). Features* All 416 species photographed in colour * Distribution map for each species on the Australian mainland * Includes species found on Australia s remote islands * Complete introduction to the biology of butterflies, and their habitats * Written by one of Australia s leading lepidopterists"

    Written in the midst of rapid social and environmental change and in a time of uncertainty and division, it offers powerful stories and arguments for ethical choice and commitment. The focus is on reconciliation between Indigenous and ‘Settler’ peoples, and with nature.

    Olga, a slender bird, wants to dance, but nobody will join her. She decides to dance by herself, faster and faster - she kicks and flaps and flies through the air, and soon a crowd picks up the beat. Olga has her way - and dances all afternoon.

    In tracing the social forces that produced the ALP, he shows it was anti-socialst from the very start. Along the way he reveals a colonial passion for pianos and uncovers the proto-fascist ideas behind Henry Lawson's popular writings. An expanded Afterword brings the ALP into the current phase of globalising.Racism rears its many heads throughout this challenging story, and Humphrey McQueen shows that the desire for land was the basis for much of what passed as radicalism and socialism. For Australians, it would seem the land boom has never ended.

    

    They also believe that the world is still being created in a continual process they call The Dreamtime. Renowned storyteller Diane Wolkstein has crafted a powerful retelling of an Australian creation story, illuminated by illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft's authentic, beautifully realized paintings.

    When her father fell for "The Slut", her mother coped brilliantly, topping a perfect marriage with the perfect divorce. But now Mrs Parfitt has whisked Rochelle off to Melbourne, where neither of them knows anybody. Isolated and miserable, Rochelle starts to skip school and ends up secretly taking a job at the World Tree, an inner city bookshop that specialises in fairytales.When Gwen, the owner of the shop, encourages Rochelle to read the books she's selling, she finds herself using the fairytale collections as a guide to the adult world around her.For a while the World Tree feels like a refuge and then Rochelle's new life begins to fall apart. It's getting harder to keep her job secret, especially after 'The Slut' turns up at the bookshop. Rochelle must also come to terms with the fact that her mother is severely depressed.But the old tales and her new friends help Rochelle to face her problems - and, in the process, she discovers she has learnt how to tell her own stories.

    It also explores educational themes including seasons in the tropics.

    Written by a leading researcher in Kookaburra ecology, this text provides a complete overview of Kookaburras and their unique place in Australian culture and natural history.

    Already in shock, she flees when overhearing the men say, ‘Libby killed her’.His past will put them both in danger …Conor Martin can’t ignore the woman who takes refuge on his doorstep. He’s been alone too long, hiding too long, afraid too long, not to recognise her desperation … and her need for love.Trust is hard to give …until past and present collide in a violent attack that forces them to confront their enemies … and their deepest fears.In Until Death, a burgeoning love struggles to survive the force of evil.

    Radical Melbourne 2: The Enemy Within traverses the same alleys and lanes to uncover a story of secret police and secret armies, guerrilla artists and underground cells, militant unionists and intransigent peaceniks.

    They take a look at Australia's record in five major areas: foreign aid, cooperation with other nations through the UN, trade, global environmental policy, and the treatment of refugees.

    Bequeathed to Sydney's Mitchell Library and embargoed by Franklin for the ten years following her death, the diaries in fact had to be restricted for much longer owing to Franklin's candid comments on the manners and morals of her contemporaries.