Collection: Adult Non Fiction - History & Military

In 1901, Federation transformed Western Australia from an independent colony to a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Perth gained the status of capital city. Originally funded by agriculture, the discovery of gold gave it the finances to transform itself from a modest country town to a p...

Australia's official First World War correspondent, Charles Bean, saw more of the Australian Imperial Force's actions and battles on the Western Front than anyone. Bean's extensive private wartime diaries, held by the Australian War Memorial, form a unique and personal record of his experiences a...

A mid-level official in a provincial German town, Kellner kept a secret diary from 1939 to 1945, risking his life to record Nazi crimes and the population's support for a brutal dictatorship. His entries, with hundreds of newspaper clippings, unflinchingly chart the country's path to totalitarian...

This is the story of Tom Phelps and the 'other Kokoda Track', a story that has never been told. Seventy-five years later, Tom's grandson, award-winning actor and writer Peter Phelps, is sharing the unforgettable tale of resilience and survival. March 1942: The world is at war. Too old to fight an...

Australia was born with its eyes wide open. Although politicians spoke publicly of loyalty to Britain and the empire, in secret they immediately set about protecting Australia's interests from the Germans, the Japanese - and from Britain itself. As an experienced intelligence officer, John Fahey ...

Is Donald Trump the most corrupt president in American history? A celebrated investigative journalist for the Associated Press untangles the gripping story of Donald Trump's long, involved collusion with Russia in damning detail including new reporting never before published.

The complete and authoritative account of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney, and the finding of her wreck in 2008. On 19 November 1941, the pride of the Australian Navy, the light cruiser Sydney, fought a close-quarters battle with the German armed raider HSK Kormoran off Carnarvon on the West Austr...

For more than a century and a half, a grim tale has passed down through Michael Veitch's family: the story of the Ticonderoga, a clipper ship that sailed from Liverpool in August 1852, crammed with poor but hopeful emigrants, mostly Scottish victims of the Clearances and the potato famine. A bett...

Subject: In both world wars, Australia detained people from many parts of the world, not least from Australia itself. For those who favoured and practised internment, the logic appeared impeccable -- in times of crisis, national security must be the first priority. For those who found themselves ...

A detailed account of the final battles of World War I and the defeat of German armed forces on the Western Front. In compelling detail, David W. Cameron recounts the military successes and challenges of the Australian Army Corps, led by Lieutenant General John Monash, during a number of key batt...