Australian History

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion on the Appalachian Trail resulted in the best seller A Walk in the Woods. Now, we follow him "Down Under" to Australia with this delectably funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance that combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiosity. More from Bill Bryson.

In the 1930s, Jill Ker's parents bought a sheep farm on the western plains of New South Wales. In 1944, they lost nearly everything when a drought hit. Forced to leave Coorain, 11-year-old Jill and her mother settled in Sydney where Jill struggled to find a place for herself among Sydney's elite. Her story, both a chronicle of life in the Australian outback and the odyssey of a brilliant woman fighting the constraints of her time, offers a loving view of Australia.

**Australian Killers: 15 Shocking Cases from Down Under**In the land Down Under, a vast and sunburnt continent that harbors untold mysteries, a shadowy underbelly exists—a realm where the most sinister tales of human malevolence reside. "Australian Killers: 15 Shocking Cases from Down Under" beckons you to venture into this dark, gripping world, where reality eclipses the most chilling fiction. **A Dark Journey Across Australia's Criminal Landscape** This eBook is a portal into the annals of Australian criminal history, a compelling exploration of fifteen harrowing true crimes that have ...

In November 1943, while on war patrol in the Makassar Strait, the USS Billfish submarine was spotted by the Japanese, who launched a vicious depth-charge attack. Explosions wracked the sub for 15 straight hours. With his senior officers incapacitated, diving officer Charlie Rush boldly assumed command and led key members of the crew in a heroic effort to keep their ship intact as they tried to escape.

Southern Skyes Sharyn Bradford Lunn's landmark saga of adventure and romance, spans almost 200 years of family history set against a backdrop of the rich and rugged wilds of Australia. In this sweeping story of love and loss, fortune and fate, this masterful storyteller recounts the journeys of the McCabe and Skye families, along with the people who shape their lives, as they strive to make good in the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land during the early 1800s. The saga chronicles the two families’ trials and triumphs, joys and injustices, and the inner torment as ...

The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.

Perched on the edge of The Great Barrier Reef, the city of Mackay is often thought of as being a sweet, peaceful little place that is the perfect place to grow up and raise a family. We have beaches, we have rainforests, we have mountains and cane fields- and we have a very low crime rate compared to most other places. It is hard to imagine that somewhere this perfect and new that is usually drenched in sunlight could ave a dark history, but that's not true. like every other city in the world, unspeakable things have happened here and those dark spots in our past have cast cold shadows over...

Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now 15 and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing her neighbors that they pose no real threat, and dreams instead of the day Tomasz returns from college in Warsaw so they can be married. But little by little, injustice by brutal injustice, the Nazi occupation takes hold, and Alina’s tiny rural village, its families, are divided by fear and hate. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears.

Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All is the story of the cultural collision between Westerners and the Maoris of New Zealand, told partly as a history of the complex and bloody period of contact between Europeans and the Maoris in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and partly as the story of Christina Thompson's marriage to a Maori man.

How do you find a way to fit in when you don't really feel you belong? Hunter follows the stories of Eric, a teenage boy, and two men, one a Nazi from Austria and the other a Nazi from northern Germany. Eric has just moved from the country to the coastal town of Crescent Bay and has difficulty adjusting. To earn some money, he begins doing odd jobs for seniors and comes into contact with the two old men. Of Germany descent himself, Eric becomes fascinated by the men and the stories they tell. Are they Nazis? Should he contact the police? He discovers that one of the men has damning evidence...

2024 Revision The story of an Australian Family beginning in 1808 and up to 1998. “William Charker, for your part in the burglary of the dwelling of Thomas Evans at St. Mary Lambeth and stealing goods to the value of £33.60 you are hereby sentenced, along with your accomplice, to 7 years transportation in the colony of New South Wales.” And so, starts the saga of an Australian Family. Although this is the story of my ancestors it is also the story of Australia. William Chalker arrived in Australia aboard the convict ship Perseus on 13th of July 1808 and became the first member of the ...

Embark on an extraordinary visual journey through the stunning artistic heritage of Australia and Oceania with "Vibrant Australia and Oceania"! This captivating eBook unveils the rich, diverse, and inspiring world of art from these fascinating regions. Allow yourself to be immersed in the intricate tapestry of traditional Oceanian art and the indigenous roots of Australian artistic expressions as you navigate each chapter. Discover the stories held within each stroke of a masterpiece as you explore remarkable art forms, from the complex patterns of Maori culture to the captivating beauty of...

Jagged Waters is the third book in the Southern Skyes family saga, carving some exciting new names on the family tree. Spicy Irish miss, Mariah Malone, is a young convict unjustly condemned to New South Wales, Australia, to serve her sentence for life. During the transport, her ship encounters a frightening, rocky demise, and the handful of survivors are washed up on King Island to await rescue. It is during this time of uncertainty and fear, Mariah’s knowledge of the entrancing surroundings—both land and sea—of this Australian island and beyond stimulates her ever-tumbling thoughts. ...

Thomas Keneally has been observing, reflecting on and writing about Australia and the human condition for well over 50 years. In this deeply personal, passionately drawn and richly tuned collection, he now turns inwards to reflect on what has been important to him, drawing on a lifetime of engagement with the great issues of our recent history and his own moments of discovery and understanding.

This book invites you to step into the magical world of Aboriginal Dreamtime and to share in the world's oldest living culture - its ancient knowledge and spiritual wisdom. Inside are Dreamtime concepts that everyone can understand. Come on a journey with Aboriginal elder Aunty Munya as she guides you in discovering your purpose in life and how to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors. Learn what it means to truly belong and be family to everyone and everything.

The New World of the 18th century was dotted with failed colonies, and New South Wales nearly joined them. The motley crew of unruly marines and bedraggled convicts who arrived at Botany Bay in 1788 in leaky boats nearly starved to death. They could easily have been murdered by hostile locals, been overwhelmed by an attack from French or Spanish expeditions or been brought undone by the Castle Hill uprising of 1804. Yet through fortunate decisions, a few remarkably good leaders and, most of all, good luck, Sydney survived and thrived.

The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family’s three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England. Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence.

According to the Australian government’s website, at the time of first contact with Europeans, there were some 500 distinct Indigenous nations, speaking different languages and following their own religious and cultural practices. As with all human societies, that of the Indigenous Australians is abounding in stories. Stories of how the world came to be the way it is, stories of heroism and perfidy, stories about animals and birds, and stories about love and hate all have parts to play in the wide array of myths, legends, and tales created by Indigenous Australians.

An alphabetical exploration of the people, geography, animals, plants, history, and culture of New Zealand.