Australia Oceania category: 2401 books

This book explores the social phenomenon of the rise and decline of trade unionism in 20th century Australia through the history of one particular union, Western Australia’s longest running industrial union (1898–1999), the West Australian Locomotive Engine Drivers’, Firemen’s and Cleaners’...

Bob McIntosh’s life has been rich in incident and anecdote which he recounts with verve and passion. An exciting biography told with a fine portion of personal sarcasm and humour. An early life spent in the Australian outback and then throughout Latin America. Bob McIntosh grew...

This, the third and final volume of a landmark, award-winning series, gives an account of Australia's settlement by Britain. It tells of the various ways in which that experience shaped imagination and belief among the settler people from the 18th century to the end of World War I. It also tells the...

The story of a near shipwreck and salvation of a small sloop off the coast of Australia in 1853. Good description of native customs. Illustrated.

On the afternoon of 8 April 1802, in the remote southern ocean, two explorers had a remarkable chance encounter. Englishman Matthew Flinders and Frenchman Nicolas Baudin had been sent by their governments on the same quest: to explore the uncharted coast of the great south land and find out whether...

'the best Kelly biography by a country mile' - The Australian The definitive biography of Ned Kelly - and a superb description of his times. A bestseller since it was first published, Ned Kelly: A Short Life is acknowledged as being the definitive biography. Ian Jones combines...

In 1861 an Irish-born explorer emerged from the Australian outback, sole survivor of the country's greatest expedition. John King from Moy, Co. Tyrone, had crossed the arid continent and discovered tracts of rich, fertile land. With eight men dead, King's triumph was one of the world's great feats...

The often harsh and unforgiving Australian landscape was a far cry from what the early colonisers were used to, and it proved a daunting obstacle to settlement. However, a few brave and at times foolhardy men were determined to prove themselves equal to the challenge. AUSTRALIA'S GREAT EXPLORERS looks...

Thousands of convicts were transported to Australia. Of these, some managed to escape incarceration and went on to achieve notoriety in their new land. A few tried to invent a Robin Hood reputation, taking the side of the poor settler against those in authority. Some committed crimes so heinous they...

Australia is a land of extremes where searing heat and devastating floods can both take their toll. It is also a land of vast distances, leaving it vulnerable to calamaties at sea, by rail and in the air. AUSTRALIAS GREATEST DISASTERS charts the events that have caused not only tragic loss of human life,...

The Japanese attack on Broome is the second most deadly air raid on Australia soil in our history and yet it's almost entirely overlooked. On 3 March 1942, nine Japanese Zero planes strafed the small town planning to destroy the aerodrome and American planes. With no notice, the townsfolk could...

Winner of the 2012 Age Book of the Year Award and the 2013 Tasmania Book Prize With the founding of Melbourne in 1835, a flood of settlers began spreading out across the Australian continent. In three years more land – and more people – was conquered than in the preceding fifty. In...

The Dog Fence is an enthralling account of a most unusual journey over sand, gibber plains and salt lakes. It is about the hazards of travel, the lessons of history and the passion and resilience of the men and women on the land. At 5400 kilometres, the Dog Fence is one of the longest man-made...

'For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.' From the High Country to the Outback, there are extraordinary stories of the men and women who have travelled across Australia behind mobs of cattle, sheep and horses. These quiet achievers, of every race and creed, forged an Australian...