Fighting Spirit by VARIOUS

$49.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

Australia's Black Summer of 2019-20 will never be forgotten. The tragedy of lost lives, homes, livelihoods, land and wildlife, and the subsequent rallying of courageous communities across the country are captured in this unique photographic tribute to the fighting spirit of the people of Australia. Incl uding a foreword from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, an introduction by award-winning author Trent Dalton, community contributions and two poems selected through a national competition for school children, this book reflects the healing power of community, kindness and hope. 'The book you hold in your hands is as much a meditation on the Black Summer fires as it is a permanent reminder of an inextinguishable fire that exists in the community-owned-and-operated spiritual heart of our nation' Trent Dalton ...Show more

Great Australian Volunteer Firies Stories by Bill Marsh

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australiana | Series: Great Australian Stories Ser.

Synopsis coming soon.......

I remember when - Australian Bush Poetry by Malcolm May

$16.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

Girt Nation: The Unauthorised History of Australia Volume 3 by David Hunt

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

David Hunt tramples the tall poppies of the past in charting Australia's transformation from aspiration to nation - an epic tale of charlatans and costermongers, of bush bards and bushier beards, of workers and women who weren't going to take it anymore. Girt Nation introduces Alfred Deakin, the Libera l necromancer whose dead advisors made Australia a better place to live, and Banjo Paterson, the jihadist who called on God and the Prophet to drive the Australian infidels from the Sudan 'like sand before the gale'. And meet Catherine Helen Spence, the feminist polymath who envisaged a utopian future of free contraceptives, easy divorce and immigration restrictions to prevent the 'Chinese coming to destroy all we have struggled for!' Thrill as Jandamarra leads the Bunuba against Western Australia, and Valentine Keating leads the Crutchy Push, an all-amputee street gang, against the conventionally limbed. Gasp as Essendon Football Club trainer Carl von Ledebur injects his charges with crushed dog and goat testicles. Weep as Scott Morrison's communist great-great-aunt Mary Gilmore holds a hose in New Australia. And marvel at how Labor, a political party that spent a quarter of a century infighting over how to spell its own name, ever rose to power. ...Show more

Our Sunburnt Country by Anika Molesworth

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

Anika Molesworth fell in love with her family's farm, a sheep station near Broken Hill, at an early age. She formed a bond with the land as though it were a member of her family. When the Millennium Drought hit, though, bringing with it extreme heat and dust storms, the future she'd always imagined for herself began to seem impossible. As she began to learn more about the causes of - and the solutions to - the extreme weather that was killing her land and her livelihood, Anika became fired up and determined to speak out. Talking to farmers and food producers all around the world, she began to realise that there was a way forward that could be both practical and sustainable - if only we can build up the courage to take it. Beautifully written and full of hope, Our Sunburnt Country shows that there is a way to protect our land, our food and our future, and it is within our grasp. Praise for Our Sunburnt Country: 'A personal journey spurred by climate change in the west of NSW, learning what can be done and why it is worth doing.' - Ross Garnaut 'This is an important, accessible and evocative book written by a farmer and scientist in that most vital of spaces: the future of our Earth. Our Sunburnt Country is a must-read for politicians, policy-makers, scientists, farmers, urban inhabitants, and all we consumers - and particularly for our youth. This book can be part of the solution.' -Charles Massy ...Show more

Currowan: A story of a fire and a community during Australia's worst summer by Bronwyn Adcock

$32.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

An insider's account of surviving one of Australia's worst bushfires, and how we live with fire in a climate-changed worldCurrowan is the gripping account of the massive fire that engulfed the south coast of New South Wales in 2019-20. Ignited by a lightning strike near the Currowan state forest and bur ning for seventy-four days across nearly 500,000 hectares, it was among the largest and most ferocious infernos of Australia's Black Summer.Journalist Bronwyn Adcock fled the fire with her children. Her husband, fighting at the front, rang with a plea for help before his phone went dead, leaving her to fear- will he make it out alive? In Currowan, Bronwyn tells her story, and those of many others- what they experienced, saw, thought and felt. The pacy, immersive reportage is braided with much larger themes - what we know about how fire behaves, how that is changing due to climate change, and how communities can cope with natural disaster and prepare themselves for an increasingly dangerous future.Currowan is about tragedy, survival and the power of community. It is the story of a fire, and of a nation in the grip of an intensifying crisis we must all work together to solve. ...Show more

Dear Son: Letters and Reflections from First Nations Fathers and Sons by Thomas Mayor

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

Dear Son shares heartfelt letters written by First Nations men about life, masculinity, love, culture and racism. Along with his own vivid and poignant prose and poetry, author and editor Thomas Mayor invites 13 contributors to write a letter to their son, father or nephew, bringing together a range of perspectives that offers the greatest celebration of First Nations manhood. This beautifully designed anthology comes at a time when First Nations peoples are starting to break free of derogatory stereotypes and find solace in their communities and cultures. Yet, each contributor also has one thing in common: they all have a relative who has been terribly wronged - enslaved, raped and dispossessed - because of their Aboriginality.  Featuring letters from Noel Pearson, Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley, John Liddle, Charlie King, Joe Williams, Yessie Mosby, David Wirrpanda, Joel Bayliss, Daniel James, Jack Latimore, Daniel Morrison and Tim Sculthorpe. A gentle and loving book for families from anywhere in the world. Artwork by proud Kaurna/Ngarrindjeri/Narrunga/Italian Australian artist Tony Wilson, with illustrations and design by Gamilaraay designer Tristan Schultz of Relative Creative. ...Show more

Muster Dogs: The companion book to the ABC TV series by Aticia Grey

$34.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

An outback story of kelpies, red dirt and the future of a family farm. A farmer's best friend and arguably one of their most reliable workers is a good dog. Aticia Grey - Teesh as she is known to friends and family - picked up her first team of kelpies in 2013 and has never looked back. In her area of r ugged rangeland in West Australia's Pilbara region, mustering with aircraft, buggies and motorbikes has become the norm, alongside horses. But stepping into the world of working dogs, Teesh found herself on a rollercoaster ride of laughter, love, heartbreak - and revelation - as the economic and animal-welfare benefits of handling cattle with skilled herding dogs became clear. In 2020 Teesh got the chance to showcase the potential of working dogs more widely. Joining the ABC TV series Muster Dogs, Teesh and four other farming families took on the challenge of training new kelpie pups and testing their worth on the properties they run. Through this experience they showed the bonds that are formed between human and dog, and vividly demonstrated the economic, environmental and emotional impact of the renaissance of muster dogs in herding and farming in rural Australia. ...Show more

Hard Knocks by Fiona Scott-Norman

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

Hard Knocks is a collection of interviews by Fiona Scott-Norman with famous and successful Australians who had a toughtime at school - either being bullied, not fitting in, or facing other adversities.The concept for the book is simple: many of the most popular Australians today were outsiders when they were at school.Not only did they 'get through' those difficult times, their school experiences helped shape them into the strong, resilientindividuals they are today. The book is truly inspiring, sending the message that school is only a small part of your lifeand a bright future is still possible, no matter what the circumstances you have to deal with when young. As such, it willprovide comfort and perspective to the one-in-four students in Australia affected by bullying, as well as their parents.Featuring contributions from: Missy Higgins (musician), Tiffany Hall (TV), Eddie Perfect (actor), Megan Washington(musician), Brendan Cowell (actor), Marieke Hardy (writer), Adam Goodes (AFL), Charlie Pickering (TV), Kate Miller-Heidke (musician), Penny Wong (politician), Benjamin Law (writer), Judith Lucy (comedian), Paul Capsis (musician),Holden Sheppard (writer), Mo'Ju (musician) and Carly Findlay (writer). ...Show more

Don't Call Us Carnies: We are Showies and damn proud of it by Norma Brophy, Wendy Stuart

$29.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

While many Australian teenagers have dreamed of joining a travelling circus, Norma Brophy wanted to run away from it. As a born and bred 'show person', she adored her early years on the road, running wild in town after town with her fellow little 'showies'. But growing up backstage of a famed travelling show wasn't all fun and games. At 15, Norma fled the circus and her father's violent ways, only to be drawn back by another formidable force - love.In this vibrant, uproarious and poignant memoir, multi-talented showbiz matriarch Norma Brophy comes out of retirement to reveal a world of interest to many but understood by few. From a time before cars to the hardscrabble Depression years, in and out of war time and across the golden era of Hollywood-tinged showmanship, right up to today, Norma paints a vivid picture of Australian show culture. With authority and candour, Norma plays ringmaster to a cavalcade of characters and places that have helped form not only the story of her own record-breaking, death-defying family, but also that of countless other travelling show people, circus and rodeo folk whose exploits and ingenuity will leave you agog. ...Show more

Melbourne: A Panoramic Gift Book by Steve Parish

$12.95 AUD

Category: Australiana | Series: Australia from the Heart Ser.

Stunning Steve Parish photographs and informative text capture Melbournes highlights. Includes the Yarra River, Southgate, Port Phillip Bay, Melbournes culture and heritage, the Dandenong Ranges, Phillip Island and Great Ocean Road.

Outback Women's Stories: Amazing Australian Amazons by Paul Bugeja

$24.99 AUD

Category: Australiana

The word "amazon" generally conjures up images of wild and powerful warrior women, fighting off foes in some primitive matriarchal society where they rule over men who have been subverted to more menial roles. Outback Women's Stories is a compilation of significant Australian women of simple but importa nt character traits - strength, fortitude and courage. Australia has grown from penal colony to modern nation and important player on the global stage, and during this period there have been any number of women who have courageously taken on the multifarious and sometimes death-defying challenges the Aussie outback has thrown at them, often alongside the men they loved with gaggles of children in tow. These women have faced their trials admirably, with rarely a word of complaint, and continue to do so to this day - they are our "Aussie Amazons". ...Show more