Item category 1: Countries: History & Geography

Through a precious cache of WWII letters, a story of war is revealed. But also, most movingly, a story of love, resilience and survival, from award-winning and bestselling writer, Peter Rees. Doug Heywood was a grown man when he discovered, in a shoe box hidden in a wardrobe, a time capsule of so...

Westminster Abbey was one of the most powerful churches in Catholic Christendom before transforming into a Protestant icon of British national and imperial identity. Celebrating the 750th anniversary of the consecration of the current Abbey church building, this book features engaging essays by a...

A history of the intertwined personal and public lives of the Churchills and the Kennedys discusses their respective family views, how they overcame bitter differences to unite against Hitler, and the enduring influence of their collaborations.

WA Author. As Australia's largest wartime port, Fremantle played a unique role in the nation's story. Featuring extraordinary photographs, this volume is a fascinating account of our homefront during the Boer War, World War I, World War II and more. It records our history of departure and reunion...

"On election night, 1987, Christopher Hope returned to his native South Africa after a twelve-year absence. The nature of that year's whites-only election and the bitter defeat of the liberals led him to write this satirical, evocative portrait of what it looked and felt like growing up in a coun...

Which nations have launched animals into space? Where are the world's cat people? How many humans live in high-risk zones for natural disasters? How far do you have to travel to hug all fifteen of the world's oldest trees? Where in the world do snakes live -- or better yet, where can you avoid th...

Through the story of three generations of women in her own family - the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself - Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's twentieth century. This is a book on the history of China, a tragic tale of night...

HISTORY. AUSTRALIAN. Local Author Dot Kleeman has kindly donated a copy of her new book, that tells some fantastic stories of the first settlers at Peaceful Bay. Ages 9+

For all we have gained in the mordern world -- better living conditions, the boundless potential of technology -- simple peace of mind is hard to find. In a time that is increasingly fraught with complexity and conflict, we are told that our wellbeing relies on remaining as present as possible. B...

Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a ten-year period from 1935 until the Fuhrer's death in the Berlin bunker in May 1945. He was one of the last to leave the bunker and was responsible for guarding the door while Hitler killed himself. During his years of service, Linge was responsible for ...

A powerful, personal and compelling book on the challenges facing our world, from one of Australia's most experienced journalists and international commentators, Stan Grant. History is turning. In only a few short decades, we have come a long way from Francis Fukuyama's declaration of the 'end of...

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY. William Watson was a young Oxford post-graduate at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Along with several friends from Oxford he enlisted in the army expecting the war to last six weeks. Watson began his service in the Great War as a British Army motorcycle des...

ARCHAEOLOGY. Wonders of the Ancient World describes the most extraordinary feats of human engineering and design from across the globe, created between the dawn of human civilization and the onset of the Dark Ages. Author Justin Pollard looks at the problems that the ancients solved to build each...

Our fascination with ancient Egypt goes back to the ancient Greeks. But the heyday of Egyptology was undoubtedly the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This golden age of scholarship and adventure is neatly book-ended by two epoch-making events: Champollion's decipherment of hieroglyphics ...

WORLD ATLASES / WORLD MAPS. THE WORLD GEOGRAPHICAL ATLAS is fully a fully revised international atlas. So up to date that it includes the 195th country of the world to be officially recognised (South Sudan). The latest world population data and recognised international guidelines. Use of the loca...

History books are often filled with long descriptions, complex facts, and stories that can bore even the most enthusiastic history buffs. In World History 101 you’ll skip those tedious details and focus on engaging lessons that will impress any kind of historian. From Julius Caesar and Genghis Kh...

A comprehensive and accessible guide to the history of human civilisation, World History profiles everything from the emergence of Homo Sapiens to the Greek and Roman empires, through Chinese dynasties, the rise of the Vikings, and the Renaissance, to the Industrial Revolution and World War I and...

Throughout the Middle Ages crusading was justified by religious ideology, but the resulting military campaigns were fueled by concrete objectives: land, resources, power, reputation. Crusaders amassed possessions of all sorts, from castles to reliquaries. Campaigns required material funds and equ...

WORLD HISTORY. This beautifully illustrated family reference guide explores 30 wonders from Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon - with fantastic colour illustrations and photographs that capture both the magic and the majesty of these stunning natural wonders and incredible man made constructions. Fil...

We live on a unique planet. The only one that we know of that has life. Amidst the budding civilizations and testaments to human creativity and ingenuity, great geological and ecological diversity have surrounded us since humans took their first steps. The Earth has developed into a truly astound...

In 1939, as Hitler's troops march on Prague, a Jewish couple makes a heartbreaking decision that will save their eight-year-old son's life but change their family forever. Australian journalist Juliet Rieden grew up in England in the 1960s and 70s always sensing that her family was different in s...

Uncovering the physical remains of our past is a quintessential human itch; the pursuit of every society from the ancients through to today. But the stories behind archaeological exploration and discovery - what we look for when, what we end up finding, and what we then do with it - tell us as mu...

June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the entire European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria who escaped to Britain just before the War. Many have lo...

Join William McInnes as he reflects on Australia's way of life and gives us his own take on our colourful and colloquial way with words. Whether we are bunging it on or behaving like a drongo, Australians have a turn of phrase for every situation that helps us. Our lingo helps us through life's l...

When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isn't Disneyland, but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long dark winte...

AU Author. This is the true account of one of the most amazing POW escapes in WWII. Weakened by hunger, thirst and ill-treatment, author Charles McCormac, then a World War Two prisoner-of-war in Japanese occupied Singapore, knew that if he did not escape he would die. With 16 other Australian and...