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'For a long time I have been intending to write down earliest memories to discover how many I retain clear-cut before my memory is too moth-eaten. I meant to do this as a diary for myself alone, as sailors in the doldrums erect full-rigged ships in bottles just because the mind is an instrument that sanity cannot leave idle. I must find some kind of exercise for a mind unused except on chores or with the triffle-traffle of housewives.'

Miles Franklin wrote this delightful autobiography in 1952-1953. She was unable to arrange for publication before her death in 1954 and the MS. came to Angus and Robertson Ltd from her executors, the Permanent Trustee Co. Ltd of New South Wales. It was first published in 1963.

The brutal bashings of a five-year-old Cody Hutchings by his step-father promoted a major change in state legislation in Australia.

After Stuart John McMaster was found guilty manslaughter, the Victorian State Government introduced the new offence of child homicide.

Welcome to Crime Shots - short, sharp, true crime stories from Australia's past and present.

Jan Smith's Confessions... is finally out! Self-acknowledged victim of too many books and too much liveliness, this is an almost intergalactic memoir where small town life at Eumundi, Queensland meets the political changes of war-time Australia, Catholics and Protestants hold an uneasy truce, and Irish black humour abounds: By English standards there wasn't a Right in Australia, just men who'd stopped being Left. We visit Brisbane and Longreach in less-than-fashionable 50s, then the urban thrall of Sydney and Woman magazine. Marriage, motherhood and the enigmas of the Bulletin. Separation, independence, even editor of Forum magazine, topped off with a home birth at 40...

Jan Smith is the author of two novels, An Ornament of Grace (Sun Books, 1966) and The Worshipful Company (Cassell, 1969), and co-author, with Dr William Vayda, of Health for Life: Are You Allergic to the Twentieth Century? (Sphere Books 1981)

After dropping out of the University of Queensland and working as a cadet journalist on The Courier Mail Jan went to Sydney and joined Woman's Day magazine. After three years on Woman's Day, she was forced to resign because she had married a staff member, and for the next fifty years survived by freelancing, notably for The Bulletin and Pol magazine, apart from a year on Forum UK, the sex magazine, and Australian Business.

She now lives happily in King's Cross, Sydney, with her cat, doing what she'd have rather done all along.

Wild encounters with crocodiles, mad Territorians, Asian crab poachers, Cyclone Tracy, petty-crooks, the NT police, magistrates, judges and murderers, family members, Fred Brophy and his boxing troupe and all levels of authority.

Meet Roy Wright, an old-style villain and barramundi poacher extraordinaire who, after a lifetime of dodging police, unbelievably goes straight(ish) in a legitimate mud crab business.

Author, Bob Magor, paints a warts-and-all true-life portrait of a bloke with a strong sense of an Aussie fair go, a bit-of-class larrikinism, and a stuff 'em attitude towards authority.

And as for the leopard-skin jocks? A man needs a trademark!

The treacherous and beautiful Coral Sea is the background for this story of the nineteenth century adventurers on perilous voyages into its waters in search of the bêche-de-mer and pearl shell; of the savage chiefs who ruled its islands; of the seamen who charted it; of the explorers struggling up the Queensland coast; a tale of the taming of the wilderness and its people.

...as in all Idriess books, there is always something good somewhere; and here it is the two chapters on Jemmy the Hook, who had had both hands chopped off by mutinous islander-crews, and who returned with iron hooks instead of hands to take a gruesome vengeance on yet another mutinous crew; it is a story which calls all the Idriess descriptive powers into play, and the reader avid of blood-and-guts can be assured of exactly that. - The Bulletin, 1957

As so often in Australian letters, an initial fall into obscurity and harsh judgments of the literary establishment serve as good indicators of a writer's pre-eminence. - Nicholas Rothwell, The Australian, 2017

AT THE TOP OF THE HEAP, IT'S A LONG WAY DOWN…

 

The Little Fella, George Freeman, phoned to tell the owner of The Palace, an illegal Kings Cross casino, that everything was 'sweet in town - for now'. An all-clear from Sydney's gaming boss. He tended to have the right oil.

 

Beer, served in contravention of liquor licence conditions, at heavily marked up prices, was the liquid gold that gave Abe Saffron his start as a crime boss. 'Mr Sin' rebuilt Kings Cross from there.

 

Carl Williams joked that he ran Victoria, that he was 'the premier'. He wasn't of course, but he behaved like the State's Lord High Executioner for five bloody years. Why?

 

For 12 years, nine blocks of Cabramatta were Heroin Central. Tri Minh Tran's 5T street gang run them.

 

L'Onorata Societa [The Honored Society], our mafia, celebrates 100 years since its first killing in the 2020s. Here, we look at how bosses handle succession and generational change. Shotguns appear regularly.

Cynthia Reed, single mother, psychiatric nurse, novelist and connoisseur, married Sidney Nolan in Sydney in 1948. England served as their home base from 1953 till her death in 1976, territory charted in her four travel books.

This biography is drawn from her books in depth and from her intimate letters to her brother John and his wife, Sunday Reed between 1927, when she was nineteen, and 1944 when their correspondence ceased.

Her unpopularity in Australia in the sixties is accounted for and the stereotypes of the envious sister-in-law, the mad artist's wife and the nihilistic suicide dismantled.

Daddy Who? is the story of a phenomenon, a band that in eighteen short months changed the course of Australian rock history.

Author and musician Craig Horne was with Daddy Cool every inch of the way. With an insider's view, he tracks the journey from when they burst onto the scene in October 1970, with their infectious doo-wop mayhem, and follows their rapid rise to the top—when they were on the front cover of every newspaper and rock magazine in the country, and when radio churned out hits like 'Eagle Rock', 'Come Back Again' and 'Hi Honey Ho!' virtually nonstop.

The book reveals the madness of Daddy Cool's three US tours, from their showcase performance at LA's Whisky A Go Go, to New York's famed Madison Square Garden, and supporting the likes of Elvin Bishop, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, Little Feat and Captain Beefheart.

Daddy Cool are one of the most impressive bands I've ever heard ... And 'Eagle Rock' is one of my favourite tracks of all time." — Sir Elton John, 1975

Lack of opportunity is the common reason people give for their inability to attain their potential. This story invites the reader to take the colourful route of gaining an education in adulthood. In doing so we satisfy restless curiosity and obtain peace of mind. The author's story provides clues as to what might be obtained if good advice is followed with fortitude and tenacity. Worthwhile careers are only attained by hard work - what have we to lose?

DARING AND DISRUPTIVE IS AN INSIGHTFUL AND SOULFUL ACCOUNT OF THE ENTREPRENEUR'S ROLLER-COASTER RIDE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SUCCEED ALMOST AS MUCH AS THEY WANT TO BREATHE

...WHO WANT TO MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE AND THE ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY.

After decades of success in multiple industries, Lisa Messenger blends her personal stories with the important business lessons she has learned along the way, from why money is not the only currency to how to fail well.

Lisa gives readers a valuable insight into her world, whether you're a budding entrepreneur, seasoned game changer or a corporate ladder-climber dreaming of creating your own gig or making positive change from the inside. This book will help you dig deep, stay on purpose, back yourself, be true to your ideas, and ensure that if you're thrown to the wolves, you'll have the strength to come out leading the pack.

Your life is your message to the world. So embrace the journey and live it out loud.

"Business anarchy for fun and profit - not for the short of breath, weak of spine or faint of heart. Put on clean underwear and turn to page one."- BRADLEY TREVOR GREIVE AM, NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling AUTHOR

Widely regarded in the golfing world as arrogant and abrasive, David Graham is deeply respected by a few close friends for his unswerving loyalty and honesty.

A loner, yet devoted family man, he has risen from a difficult background of ridicule and failure to the highest levels of acclaim in professional golf.

The only Australian to win two US majors, this book tells the story of a troubled figure who, like Hamlet, faced "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune".

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend time with a convicted serial killer?

Or how you would feel when they told you what it was like to take a life?

Don't Ever Call Me Helpless is a powerful, chilling true crime story that offers a rare glimpse into the mind of convicted murderer Catherine Birnie.

In the late 1980s, Catherine and her defacto partner David Birnie went on a killing spree that shocked and numbed the Western Australian community. In just six weeks they abducted, tortured, raped and murdered four Perth women, and were only caught when a fifth victim escaped and led police to the killers.

During the 1990s author Ruth Wykes was a frequent visitor to Perth's Bandyup Women's Prison. She spent many hours with Catherine Birnie, and her account of the woman, mother, and remorseless killer is a must-read for anyone who is interested in true crime.

Welcome to Crime Shots - short, sharp, true crime stories from Australia's past and present.

Wir befinden uns in unserem Lebem alle auf einer Reise. Des Autors Reise beginnt bescheiden in Transylvanien und geht von dort stufenweise hinaus in die Welt.

"Durch Dick & Dünn, Teil 1" zählt die ersten Hürden des Autors auf seinem Lebensweg, die eines gewohnlichen Bürgers: Zweiter Weltkrieg, Flucht, Kindheit in Nach-Kriegs-Deutschland, Erfahrungen sammeln auch in der Schule des Lebens mit den Menschen beginnend in; Europa, Klein-Asien, Nordafrika.

Alles findet einen Platz in "Durch Dick & Dünn, Teil 1": Widersprüche, Herausforderungen, Ausbildung, Bemühungen, Arbeit, Hobbies, Reisen, Romantik, Enttäuschungen und Erfolge.

Mut mit einem festen Blick auf die positiven Seiten des Lebens überwindet so manche Hürde in dieser Autobiographie.

"Durch Dick & Dünn, Teil 2" ist das zweite Kapitel in dem Leben des Autoren. Er geht hinaus in die Welt, um auch in der Schule des Lebens zu lernen. Das Buch erzählt von einer achtkopfigen Familie. Der Leser erlebt den Weg in zunächst drei Kontinenten, bis der Autor, seine finnische Frau Arja, ihre drei Mädchen und drei Jungen sich eine paradiesische Bleibe mit unermüdlichen Anstrengungen in Australien geschaffen haben. Das Buch beinhaltet nicht nur Handlungen, sondern auch die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse einer Weltbürger-Familie.

"Durch Dick & Dünn, Teil 3" ist das dritte Kapitel in dem Leben des Autoren. Aus der Schule des Lebens erhält er hier gültige Zeugnisse. Das Buch erzählt weiter von einer achtkopfigen Familie, wie sie weitgehend selbständig dem Leben die guten Seiten abringen. In Australien findet dann das "Familien-Boot" einen Anker, wo die gesammelten Erfahrungen auf den Prüfstein kommen. Am Ende ist dann alles gut.