Stephen Dando-Collins $34.99 PB
The Dam Busters, The Great Escape and Reach for the Sky were all written by Paul Brickhill, an Australian hero of WWII. 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 25th anniversary of his death. In 1956 Brickhill, the writer from Sydney’s lower North Shore, had every reason to feel blessed. He was the highest-earning author in the UK and two of his bestselling books – The Dam Busters and Reach for the Sky – had recently been made into blockbuster films. Another of his books – inspired by his experiences as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 3 in Germany during the Second World War – was attracting interest from Hollywood. That book was The Great Escape. Yet, life for the enigmatic Brickhill was never simple. He was beset with mental-health issues and his marriage to model Margot Slater was tempestuous. He struggled with alcohol and writer’s block too, as his success – and all that accompanied it – threatened to overwhelm him. In The Hero Maker, award-winning historical author and biographer Stephen Dando-Collins exposes the contradictions of one of Australia’s most successful, but troubled, writers. Brickhill’s extraordinary story – from the youth with a debilitating stutter to Sydney Sun journalist to Spitfire pilot and POW to feted author – explodes vividly to life on the centenary of his birth.
Fifteen Young Men: Australia’s Untold Football Tragedy
Paul Kennedy $34.99 PB
Fifteen Young Men is the true story of a doomed adventure. Few people know an Australian football team drowned in 1892. Yet the boat disaster still ranks alongside the Manchester United plane crash (1958) as one of the world’s greatest sporting tragedies. Lost were fifteen men and boys from one town - brothers, fathers, sons, uncles and best mates – ‘youths that might have made the best colonists Australia ever had.’ Only one or two members of the team were spared: the captain, who at the jetty had a strange sense of impending danger, and gave away his ticket before the voyage, and one other. For the first time in 122 years, journalist Paul Kennedy reveals why the Mornington Football Club never made it home. In doing so, he brings to life nineteenth-century Australia during the depression and its first banking crisis, a period of trauma, resilience, friendship, love and grief for a generation of settlers’ children.
Fifteen Young Men: Australia’s Untold Football TragedyFifteen Young Men is the true story of a doomed adventure. Few people know an Australian football team drowned in 1892. Yet the boat disaster still ranks alongside the Manchester United plane crash (1958) as one of the world’s greatest sporting tragedies. Lost were fifteen men and boys from one town - brothers, fathers, sons, uncles and best mates – ‘youths that might have made the best colonists Australia ever had.’ Only one or two members of the team were spared: the captain, who at the jetty had a strange sense of impending danger, and gave away his ticket before the voyage, and one other. For the first time in 122 years, journalist Paul Kennedy reveals why the Mornington Football Club never made it home. In doing so, he brings to life nineteenth-century Australia during the depression and its first banking crisis, a period of trauma, resilience, friendship, love and grief for a generation of settlers’ children.
Stroke of Genius: Victor Trumper and the Shot That Changed Cricket
Gideon Haigh
Sept 2016 | $39.99 HB
Victor Trumper (1877-1915) was our first internationally recognised cricketing genius, acclaimed by the legendary W.G Grace and others, who died at 36 in 1915. He has entered Australian sporting folklore and is still one of the great names in sport, with a stand named after him at the SCG. Trumper is a figure that has long held intrigue for Australia's favourite cricket writer, Gideon Haigh. In Stroke of Genius he takes the phenomenon and specific focus of Trumper and particularly a famous, ground-breaking photograph of him by Englishman George Beldham to ask a much larger set of questions. Haigh argues Trumper changed the way cricket was perceived and played in a way that reflects on Australia's relationship with England, the start of the 20th century (photography, marketing, professionalism) and eternal themes of sport and beauty. He explores the relationship between Trumper, the photograph, the game, the country and its people.
Ghost Empire
Richard Fidler $39.99 HB **BiP Price $34.95
In 2014, Richard Fidler and his son Joe made a journey to Istanbul. Richard's passion for the rich history of the dazzling Byzantine Empire - centred around the legendary Constantinople – sweeps the reader into some of the most extraordinary tales in history. The clash of civilizations, the fall of empires, the rise of Christianity, revenge, lust, murder. Turbulent stories from the past are brought vividly to life at the same time as a father navigates the unfolding changes in his relationship with his son. Ghost Empire is a revelation: a beautifully written ode to a lost civilization, and a warmly observed father-son adventure far from home.
The History of Australia in 100 Objects
The History of Australia in 100 Objects
Toby Creswell $49.99 HB
From Captain Cook's globe to Mabo's map, and Melba's frock to Cathy Freeman's running suit, this is Australia's history told through a gallery of things. Former Rolling Stone editor Toby Creswell has curated an illustrated popular history of Australia accumulated through the review of 100 fascinating man-made objects. Creswell takes each object as the starting point to explore the stories that make up our national history, exploring and celebrating key technological, social, political and sporting moments. From Ned Kelly's armour to Henry Lawson's pen and Julia Gillard's glasses, the chosen objects are sometimes iconic, sometimes unexpected and quirky; but the mix creates a compelling story. Each entry is accompanied by a striking image of the object. A book that can be read from cover to cover, or dipped into at any point, The History of Australia in 100 Objects is a fresh, popular take on Australia's history.
The Australian National Dictionary
edited by Bruce Moore $175.00 Two volume slipcase
The Australian National Dictionary is the ultimate dictionary of Australianisms. It includes words and meanings that have originated in Australia, and words that have a greater currency here than elsewhere or that have a special significance in Australian history. Like the comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary, it differs from general dictionaries in being based on historical principles. This means it describes the full history of a word, starting with its earliest appearance, establishing its origin, and documenting its use over time.
There are 6000 new entries and more than 16,000 Australian terms. This two volume set includes colloquial terms, rhyming slang and numerous lively and colourful idioms, and regional terms from different states and territories and terms from Aboriginal English. The Australian National Dictionary is the only comprehensive, historically-based record of the words and meanings that make up Australian English. It is a unique lexical map of Australian history and culture.
