Australian Memoir

Boxing has given Australian sport some of our most inspiring champions and captivating tales. Stories of underdogs overcoming heartbreaks and hurdles, of endless courage and dedication, triumph and tragedy. From the first brawls in old Sydney Town, the travelling boxing tents across the country and the first black world heavyweight champion to today's most celebrated fighters, Australia's pre-eminent boxing journalist and former assistant trainer to some of the ring's most talented champions presents our nation's greatest boxing stories.

Within the chapters of System Exposed: Heartbeat of My Life, Julie shares her horrific childhood story; complete with child abuse, homelessness, juvenile jails, institutional care, lies and cover ups from trusted officials. The government just closed their eyes and allowed everything told within to happen to many children.

This is an audiobook about the indestructability of love. Journalist and author Karina Machado spoke to over 60 Australians with stories of postdeath contact. She shares their life-shattering experiences of loss and shows how their spiritual contact with deceased lovers, friends or family members brought peace, hope and the solace of knowing that their connections live on.

At just 15-years-old, Geena had no choice but to leave home. Without an education or any real options, she found herself being lured into the sex industry by the promise of big money and the validation of strangers. She turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of day to day life as a call girl and to overcome the emotional scars of her past. But even in her darkest hours, Geena refused to accept her circumstances and never stopped striving for freedom and a better life. Eventually, she found the strength to turn things around and set herself on a path to a brighter future.

Discover the riveting tale of youthful idealism, adventure, and survival with "Rosebud Farm: The Journey of Young Idealists" by Louella Bryant, skillfully narrated by Butch Bryant. This gripping audiobook takes you back to 1970, where a group of young American ex-pats from wealthy families abandons their conventional lives to establish an ideal society at Rosebud Farm in Far North Queensland. Join Charlie Dean, a headstrong resident of the farm, as he decides to leave the comforts of his new home to explore Southeast Asia.

A proud Gunai/Kurnai woman, Veronica Gorrie grew up dauntless, full of cheek and a fierce sense of justice. After watching her friends and family suffer under a deeply compromised law-enforcement system, Gorrie signed up for training to become one of a rare few Aboriginal police officers in Australia. In her 10 years in the force, she witnessed appalling institutional racism and sexism and fought past those things to provide courageous and compassionate service to civilians in need, many Aboriginal themselves.

Atop the hierarchy of Australian bushrangers sits Ned Kelly–the ultimate outlaw–and just below him, the tragic figure of Ben Hall, who joined a gang led by a man whose name today is less well known, but in his time was much more famous than any other: Frank Gardiner. Mastermind of the largest gold robbery in Australia’s history, Gardiner led an extraordinary life, the full telling of which is long overdue. In a tough country and among a group of tough men, Gardiner was the toughest of them all.

Michael Fomenko is familiar with adversity. But when he gets shut out of the Commonwealth Games for financial and political reasons at the ripe age of 20, he questions everything. Setting a new course for himself, he dreams of a feat that will require unimaginable determination. With no companions or guides, he will paddle a dugout canoe over 1,000 nautical kilometers from Cairns, Australia, to Dutch, New Guinea.

Colditz Castle was Nazi Germany’s infamous "escape-proof" wartime prison, where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful Allied prisoners were sent. Despite having more guards than inmates, Australian Lieutenant Jack Champ and other prisoners tirelessly carried out their campaign to escape from the massive floodlit stronghold, by any means necessary.

City Girl, Country Girl brings together the stories of women who have left lives in the city or other countries to build new futures in places where knowing how to milk a cow or drive a tractor stands them in far better stead than an ability to negotiate rush-hour traffic or find a good cappuccino. It ranges in scope from the classic outback story of Sarah Durack in the late 1800s to the author's own mother's experiences of swapping wartime Melbourne for a dairy farm on the Limestone Coast to the present day.

Una espectácular crónica sobre el ascenso a la cima del tenis mundial de la dupla conocida como el Colombian Power. El sábado 13 de julio de 2019, Robert Farah y Juan Sebastián Cabal se coronaron campeones de Wimbledon —el torneo más antiguo y prestigioso del tenis profesional—, luego de una batalla de titanes que duró casi cinco horas y que los llevó a levantar el trofeo más anhelado por cualquier tenista en el mundo.

For more than 30 years, H. G. Nelson has been finding the poetry in the punt and humour during half-time. Now, he turns his keen eye for facts and folly to the illustrious history of our great sporting nation. In his trademark fast and furious style, H. G. dives deep into the moments that have truly made us who we are. He reminds us of our leaders' great sporting triumphs, from Harold Holt's swimming to John Howard's bowling, rewrites the record on legends such as 'Aussie Joe' Bugner and Jack Brabham; and explains why Australia's reality TV is the best in the world.

Kate Ceberano is used to a hush descending as she draws breath to release that magnificent voice but when the whole world quietened in 2020, she found the silence disorientating. Without an audience or long hours of travel with her tribe of musicians, there was time to think. But what does an artist do when they can’t make art? They find a way. With characteristic passion, abundance and joy, Kate liberated her unsung songs.

Nakkiah and Miranda are angry, young, vocal, Aboriginal and very, very funny. Join them on their journey, starting with a lesson on teatime etiquette in London where it all began, as they follow the debutante trail and discover that First Nations women across the globe have made this tradition their own. Nakkiah and Miranda ask: can beauty, poise and politeness actually empower them? Or is it better to get angry and start shouting?

Leading Australian Icons in Music covers several different genres of Australian music that have made the most significant impact on the music scene in the past 50 years. The profiles of these talented individuals are explored in greater detail than other books, focusing not only on their sales but also their upbringing and personal experiences. You’ll find that a lot of these musicians have similar values and morals, and these values are what helped them become the musical influences that they are today.

Between 1989 and 2006, there were 5,226 homicides in Australia. Serial homicides account for 1% of this astonishing number of murders that were committed by 13 known offenders.

On Lust and On Longing together for the first time. When On Lust was first published it caused a media sensation: Blanche d'Alpuget wrote of a pillar of society who had molested children and of events that ended in mystery. Now she reveals all. On Longing caused a similar sensation, for different reasons. D'Alpuget dared to write that she loved and had inspired love in a man already adored by the public. Here are the raw and timeless themes of the power and powerlessness inherent to lust, love, loss and death.

There's another side to Australian Football League legends such as Jason Dunstall, Shane Crawford, and James Hird, not to mention Kevin Sheedy's little quirks. Have you heard the story about the time Sheeds had to play the part of one of the Three Little Pigs? Or how hysterical chickens found their way into Bomber Thompson's new car during training? Who put white powder in the Essendon doctor's bag that was then detected at the airport? And why is John Platten a 'footy-trip legend'?