In 1829 at the Supreme Court in Sydney, the bewitching Jane New was sentenced to death. Her crime: shoplifting a bolt of printed French silk. But was she guilty? Many had their doubts.
Although a legal technicality soon quashed Jane's sentence, the autocratic Governor Ralph Darling refused to set her free. Like bees to the honey pot, the gentlemen of Sydney swarmed to Jane's defence including barrister and political agitator William Charles Wentworth and Supreme Court Registrar John Stephen Jr, who were both vigorous and manipulative in their appeals to set her free.
An Irresistible Temptation is set against the backdrop of a particularly divisive period in colonial New South Wales. Not only did the scandal titillate Sydney and its legal and political ramifications push the colony to the brink of a constitutional crisis, but it contributed to the savagery of Governor Darling's public vilification and bestowed upon Jane New a place in the annals of Australian colonial history.
Compelling and fast-paced, An Irresistible Temptation is a meticulously researched history that takes us from the court docks of industrialising England, to Tasmania's raw penal settlement, the rough-house world of Sydney's Rocks and eventually back to the rarefied atmosphere of Britain' House of Commons.

Graeme Quick

Australia has some of the world's largest and most labour efficient farms, and tractors are an essential part of their operations. This historical overview documents the development of the indigenous tractor industry.

Histories are included of individual manufacturers as well as the historical, social  and economic impact the industry as a whole has contributed to Australia

S/cover. 176 pages

Richard Whitaker

Do you need to take an umbrella today? Will the price of bananas go up this week? Will the cyclone reach our town? From the most mundane daily decisions to matters of life and death, the weather affects our lives intimately. Drawing on the latest scientific research, The Complete Book of Australian Weather explains climate zones and weather patterns across the continent.
Australia has some of the most extreme weather patterns of any country in the world. We discover the science behind the devastating bushfires and cyclones, the willy willies and the southerly buster, and the cyclical droughts caused by the El Nino phenomenon. We explore why Australia is particularly vulnerable to climate change, and how we can harness the forces of nature for green energy.
Lavishly illustrated throughout with colour photographs and diagrams, The Complete Book of Australian Weather is a fascinating and comprehensive guide for keen weather watchers, families and students.

Constructing Australia tells the dramatic stories of political turmoil, private tragedy and conquest that lie at the heart of three epic engineering events in Australia's history: the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Perth-Kalgoorlie Pipeline and the Overland Telegraph. Combining a wealth of rare archival images with a richly researched narrative, this volume presents the grand sweep of events and the human drama behind each project.

Tall tales, all true, about guns, bombs, car chases, spiders, exotic locales, men in uniform and dancing girls - with deadpan delivery and a social conscience.

I remember the advertisement to join the Army. It asked for guys who were fit, committed, tough, volunteer parachutists, comfortable in the ocean, and mature. As a surfer, that sounded like me - except for the mature bit.
Nathan Mullins is an ex-cop, ex-soldier, ex-security consultant and an Australian Aid International volunteer, so he's experienced all sorts of dangerous stuff involving guns, explosions, surgical procedures, combat, sword-play, rioting and other potentially life-threatening behaviours all over the world. He has been lucky to survive some of his assignments and hijinks so he decided to share a few cautionary tales so everyone else can learn from his near misses.

Maralinga: Australia's Nuclear Waste Cover-up

In April 2000, a $108 million clean-up of the former British A-bomb test site in outback South Australia was being wound up. It was declared a success and the Maralinga Tjarutja Aboriginal people were reassured that it would be safe to move back onto their lands. It was claimed to be a world first, the biggest and most successful clean-up ever.

But leaked documents show that behind the scenes, the project had been increasingly troubled. Some key insiders, including the government′s advisers, say that the job was never finished properly. In the process of the clean-up, Australia put large amounts of plutonium into several unlined, unguarded holes in the ground, the toxic waste blowing across the land in dusty clouds. The site is a devastating legacy to nuclear testing, not to mention the Aboriginal people who have been told it is safe to live there.

Alan Parkinson was the official adviser to the project, but after he voiced his concerns about the dangers of the shortcuts that were being taken, he was removed from the project and told to be quiet. Refusing to be silenced, Alan has been fighting for an inquiry for six years. This is his story.

Rod Champness

Covers a wide range of interesting topics, including Aboriginal communications, the early attempts by the settlers to setup communications with the first telegraphy, the railway, early telephone, then eventually the realisation of the Rev. John Flynns dream to provide communication with the first pedal wireless. The book then proceeds through the rapid development of modern communications we know today.

Included are many interesting sketckes, early photographs, and even circuit diagrams of the early communication equipment.
This is a must for the collector of early communications equipment, or the researcher of early life in the outback.

As a matter of interest, did you know that even with a pedal generator, batteries were still required.

Red Centre, Dark Heart

The Australian outback is a vast landscape of extraordinary magnificence. But is is also a notorious crime scene. Some of the most shocking and fascinating crimes in our history have been committed in its harsh surrounds. This book explores baffling murders, mysterious vanishing acts and intense manhunts in remote Australia.

Geoffrey Blainey.

After a lifetime of research and debate on Australian and international history, Geoffrey Blainey is well-placed to introduce us to the people who have played a part and to guide us through the events which have created the Australian identity: the mania for spectator sport, the suspicion of the tall poppy, the rivalries of Catholic and Protestant, Sydney and Melbourne, new and old homelands, the conflicts of war abroad and race at home, the importance of technology, the recognition of our Aboriginal past and Native Title, the successes and failures of the nation. For this enlarged edition Blainey has rewritten or expanded on various episodes and themes, making changes to almost every page. He has described significant events and trends of the early-20th century. A final chapter summarises key factors that shaped and still shape this country's history.