Tom Lanark, a down-on-his-luck sailor from America could not begin to foresee his trouble when he ends up in Fremantle Gaol, wrongly accused of killing a police constable. English beauty Mary Condon cannot believe her misfortune when she is ostracised from her home country, her family and everything she holds dear after an affair with a married man. Beginning a new life in Western Australia the future seems bleak, that is until a chance meeting with a charming sailor.

Hugh Edwards takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster of a journey and deep into the history of Aboriginal life, British upper-class society, the tradition of Japanese whaling and the gritty reality of the pearling industry which was thriving in the late 19 th century.

The Price of Pearls is a quintessential blend of accurate history and gripping narrative. A stunning debut into fiction by an established and much-loved West Australian author.

First published in 2006

Australia's spectacular Great Barrier Reef was a graveyard for shipping. HMS Rattlesnake, an ageing British warship, was commissioned in 1846 to survey this magnificent 'Coral Sea' and to produce the first detailed chart of the New Guinea coast. Every reef, every shoal, every rock hazard had to be located and mapped with extreme accuracy. At stake was the pre-eminence of British sea power - and the ambitions of those on board.If all went well Stanley, the ship's brilliant captain, could expect a top job in the Admiralty; MacGillivray, the gifted naturalist, would be the world's expert on the fauna of Australia and the unknown New Guinea; and Huxley, the ambitious young surgeon, could abandon the dreary routine of the naval service for the excitement of the new world of science. But a series of highly dramatic events and encounters ensures that by the time the Rattlesnake finally returns to England, the glorious dreams of at least some of her crew have met with tragedy ....

First published in 2005, this edition 2006

Shipwrecks

Evan McHugh. From the first wreck in 1622 off Western Australia to the tragedy of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Evan captures all the drama of Australia’s maritime history. 336pp.

First published in 2003, this edition 2007

Mutiny, murder, rape, torture; a priceless treasure fuelling the basest human greed; a courageous journey in search of rescue the story of the Batavia, wrecked off the coast of Western Australia in 1629, is part of the myth and legend of Australian history. Henrietta Drake-Brockman was determined to unearth the facts. Ten years of meticulous research resulted in Voyage to Disaster, a historical tour de force comprising the complete journals of Francisco Pelsaert translated from the Old Dutch by E. D. Drok, together with a revealing biography of Pelsaert, a man of many dimensionswriter, historian, administrator.

First published in 1982, this edition 2006

Voyages to the South Seas recounts the epic journeys of French explorers to Australia and encompasses a remarkable period of French and Australian history – when Australia was France's Mars and marsupials were her aliens. Australia may have been colonised by England, but for many years, by sheer weight of specimens and scientific documentation, Australia's biodiversity belonged to France.

Tracing the often-tragic voyages of Bougainville, Lapérouse, D'Entrecasteaux, Baudin, Freycinet, d'Urville and others to Australia from 1768 to 1828, Voyages to the South Seas brings to life the changing society that launched these ambitious endeavours and the scientific discoveries they made. It is the story of noble men impoverished by their passion, and nobodies who made their names through physical courage and intellectual achievement. It is the story of the young men who risked their lives for adventure and excitement but, above all, in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE

True story of a 1912 attempt by the Federal government to replace the Asian pearl divers with divers trained by the British Royal Navy, and its fatal aftermath.

First published in 2001, this edition 2011

$24.95