Collection: Adult Non Fiction - History & Military

A fresh new look at the Roman Empire, from the point of view of those regarded by the Romans as 'barbarians'. Kershaw builds a narrative around the lives, personalities, successes and failures both of the key opponents of Rome's rise and dominance, and of the those who ultimately brought the empi...

The story that bonds Ernest Rutherford and Marcus Oliphant is as extraordinary as it is unlikely. They were kindred souls, schooled and steeped in the furthest frontiers of Britain's empire, whose restless intellect and tireless conviction fused in the crucible of discovery at Cambridge Universit...

'The way I look at it is this... When you're behind the line and get yourself into trouble, you've got to get your bloody self out irrespective of anybody else. That's why I like it.' Jock McLaren was a true Australian hero. He escaped Singapore twice, participated in numerous raids on the Japane...

The Shipwreck of the Batavia combines in just the one tale the birth of the world's first corporation, the brutality of colonisation, the battle of good vs evil, the derring-do of sea-faring adventure, mutiny, ship-wreck, love, lust, blood-lust, petty fascist dictatorship, criminality, a reign of...

An enlightening re-examination of an important campaign following the experiences of the men from both sides. From the killing ground of Kaiapit to the treacherous heights of the Finisterre Range, for four months in 1943-44, the Australian army fought to drive the Japanese from their mountain str...

Part of the new Ladybird Expert series, Battle of Britain is an accessible, insightful and authoritative account of the most famous aerial battle in history. Historian, author and broadcaster James Holland draws on the latest research and interviews with participants to bring colour, detail and a...

It was the afternoon of 18 August 1966, hot, humid with grey monsoonal skies. D Company, 6RAR were four kilometres east of their Nui Dat base, on patrol in a rubber plantation not far from the abandoned village of Long Tan. A day after their base had suffered a mortar strike, they were looking fo...

In the thick of World War II, during the first week of March 1943, Japan made a final, desperate lunge for control of the South West Pacific. In the ensuing Battle of the Bismarck Sea, a force of land-based Australian and American planes attacked a massive convoy of Japanese warships. The odds we...

12 March 1942: The Japanese have swarmed the Philippines, forcing US general Douglas MacArthur to flee with his family, escaping by the skin of their teeth to the nearest safe country - Australia. Meanwhile, Australia's foremost general, Tom Blamey, is ordered home from the Middle East by Prime M...

At what point does the will to survive on the battlefield give way to bloodlust? The battle for Crete was at once the most modern and the most ancient of wars. For a week Australian and New Zealand forces were relentlessly hammered from the skies by the Luftwaffe and pursued across Crete by some ...