Books
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Christopher Pyne
The Insider
$35.00
One of the most brilliant, funny and engaging books by an Australian public figure you will ever read, Christopher Pyne's political memoir covers the years from 2007, during the first Rudd Government, to Pyne's exit from public life in 2019.Visit product page →
Christopher Pyne has been many things and called many things throughout his long career in politics. Member for Sturt. Minister for Defence. Manager of Opposition Business. Leader of the House. 'The Fixer'. Any Canberra story he doesn't know isn't worth telling.
Now, after 26 years, the ultimate insider is outside the House and ready to burst the Canberra bubble with his trademark sharp wit. His revelations of dealings, double dealings, friendships and feuds shine a light on the political processes of those in power: the egos, the sacrifices, the winners, the losers, the triumphs and the failures. From Howard to Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison, Christopher Pyne has seen and heard it all. The Insider is one of the most brilliant, funny, engaging books by an Australian public figure you'll ever read.
About the Author
Christopher Pyne is the former Member for Sturt and a long-serving federal government minister. First elected as the Member for Sturt in 1993, he started on the Opposition backbench before rising through the ranks to become Minister for Defence and Leader of the House, serving as a minister across the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments. Leaving public office in 2019, he now lives in Adelaide with his wife and four children. -
Maurice Hamilton
Niki Lauda
$33.00
Visit product page →The most comprehensive and detailed biography of Formula One legend Nick Lauda ever published, as told by Maurice Hamilton, who knew him for more than forty years. From the famous rivalry with James Hunt in the 1970s, as depicted in the film Rush, to working with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Lauda's career helped define modern F1.
In 1975, Lauda became world champion for the first time. Driving for Ferrari, he looked to retain his title in 1976 and was dominating the campaign ahead of James Hunt in his McLaren. Then, on 1 August, he was involved in a horrendous crash at the Nurburgring and was badly burned and in hospital he was given the last rites, so severe were his injuries. Remarkably, six weeks later, he was back racing again, determined to show he could still compete. As they came to the final race of the season in Japan, Lauda held a narrow lead in the championship, but in appalling weather conditions, Lauda withdrew from the race, while Hunt went on to secure the points he needed to become world champion. It was high-speed drama at its best.
Lauda came back to win the title again in 1977 and then, having temporarily retired, he won it for a third time in 1984, driving for McLaren. When he finally finished as an F1 driver, he started his own airline, before he returned to the sport in various management roles, latterly as chairman of Mercedes, where he helped in the negotiations to bring Lewis Hamilton to the team.Maurice Hamilton, who first met Lauda in 1971, draws together the remarkable story of one of the greatest stars in Formula One history. Based on interviews with friends and family, rival drivers and those he worked with later in his career, Niki Lauda is a superb and definitive tribute to a remarkable character, who died in May 2019 at the age of seventy.
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Bradley J. Edwards
Relentless Pursuit
$35.00
This is the definitive story of the case against Jeffrey Epstein and the corrupt system that supported him, told in thrilling detail by the lawyer who has represented Epstein's victims for more than a decade.Visit product page →
In June 2008, Florida-based victims' rights attorney Bradley J. Edwards was thirty-two years old and had just started his own law firm when a young woman named Courtney Wild came to see him. She told a shocking story of having been sexually coerced at the age of fourteen by a wealthy man in Palm Beach named Jeffrey Epstein. Edwards, who had never heard of Epstein, had no idea that this moment would change the course of his life. Over the next ten years, Edwards devoted himself to bringing Epstein to justice, and came close to losing everything in the process. Edwards tracked down and represented more than twenty of Epstein's victims, and shined a light on his network of contacts and friends, among them Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
Edwards gives his riveting, blow-by-blow account of battling Epstein on behalf of his clients, and provides stunning details never shared before. He explains how he followed Epstein's criminal enterprise from Florida, to New York, to Europe, to a Caribbean island, and, in the process, became the one person Epstein most feared could take him down. Epstein and his cadre of high-priced lawyers were able to manipulate the FBI and the Justice Department, but, despite making threats and attempting schemes straight out of a spy movie, Epstein couldn't stop Edwards, his small team of committed lawyers and, most of all, the victims, who were dead-set on seeing their abuser finally put behind bars.
This is the definitive account of the Epstein saga, personally told by the gutsy lawyer who took on one of the most brazen sexual criminals in the history of the US, and exposed the corrupt system that let him get away with it for far too long. -
Shannon Molloy
Fourteen
$30.00
Fourteen is this generation’s Holding the Man – a moving coming-of-age memoir about a young man’s search for identity and acceptance in the most unforgiving and hostile of places: high school.Visit product page →
This is a story about my fourteenth year of life as a gay kid at an all-boys rugby-mad Catholic school in regional Queensland. It was a year in which I started to discover who I was, and deeply hated what was revealed. It was a year in which I had my first crush and first devastating heartbreak. It was a year of torment, bullying and betrayal – not just at the hands of my peers, but by adults who were meant to protect me.
And it was a year that almost ended tragically.
I found solace in writing and my budding journalism; in a close-knit group of friends, all growing up too quickly together; and in the fierce protection of family and a mother’s unconditional love. These were moments of light and hilarity that kept me going.
As much as Fourteen is a chronicle of the enormous struggle and adversity I endured, and the shocking consequences of it all, it’s also a tale of survival.
Because I did survive. -
Ariel Lawhon
Code Name Helene
$35.00
February 29, 1944: I am about to jump out of an aeroplane for the first time … I don't care that every man is looking at me as though I don't belong. Besides, I'm hungover. And I think I might throw up … In 1936 intrepid young Australian journalist Nancy Wake is living in Paris after witnessing firsthand the terror of Hitler's rise in Europe, firing her resolve to fight against the Nazis. When Nancy falls in love with handsome French industrialist Henri Fiocca, no sooner has she become Mrs Fiocca than the Germans invade France and Nancy takes yet another name, a codename - the first of many. As the elusive Lucienne Carlier she smuggles people across borders and earns a new name ‘The White Mouse' along with a five million franc bounty on her head, courtesy of the Gestapo. Forced to flee France, Nancy is trained by an elite espionage group under the codename Hélène. Finally, with mission in hand, she is airdropped back into France as the deadly Madame Andrée. But the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed Nancy - and the people she loves - will become. Based on the true story of an extraordinary woman who saved countless lives, Code Name Hélène is a thrilling tale of danger, intrigue, unfaltering courage, remarkable sacrifice - and love. ‘Magnificent ... Lawhon carries us into the heart of the French resistance [and] into the mind of a badass heroine with uncanny instincts who takes on the Nazis and men's arrogant sexism with uncommon bravado ... Propulsive ... Emotionally stirring... Even long after the last page is turned, this astonishing story of Wake's accomplishments will hold readers in its grip.' Booklist, starred review ‘Underground operative, charmer in red lipstick, loving wife and hard-hitting woman of her times, Nancy Wake will fascinate and thrill fans of fierce, brash, independent women, alike.'Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were YoursVisit product page → -
Olympia Panagiotopoulos
Beneath The Fig Leaves
$35.00
In 1955, in a village in Greece that was marred by war and poverty, Giannoula and Fotios Panagiotopoulos dreamed of providing a better life for their children. Australia, it was rumoured, was a land of opportunity where hard work brought reward. Leaving behind family and friends, they set off to make a new home on the other side of the world.Visit product page →
Half a lifetime later, under the shade of a fig tree and in the dappled Melbourne sunlight, Giannoula regales her youngest daughter, Olympia, with stories of her homeland and journey. An evocative exploration of the ties that bind, Beneath the Fig Leaves weaves an irresistible tapestry of family, food and history to stir the heart and senses.
About the Author
Born in Melbourne to Greek parents, Olympia Panagiotopoulos comes from a long line of storytellers who inspired in her a love of folklore, myths and legends. Themes of identity and belonging are central to her writing and she is a strong advocate for celebrating bold female characters – in story and in everyday life. When she is not writing, Olympia can be found tending her garden and experimenting with new recipes in her kitchen and watching classic movies from the 30’s and 40’s. Her debut memoir, Beneath the Fig Leaves, is a vibrant and compelling tribute to her heritage and parents’ journey. -
Sy Montgomery & Rebecca Green
How To Be A Good Creature : A Memoir in Thirteen Animals
$40.00
National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery reflects on the personalities and quirks of 13 animals - her friends - who have profoundly affected her in this stunning, poetic, and life-affirming memoir featuring illustrations by Rebecca Green.Visit product page →
Understanding someone who belongs to another species can be transformative. No one knows this better than author, naturalist, and adventurer Sy Montgomery. To research her books, Sy has travelled the world and encountered some of the planet’s rarest and most beautiful animals. From tarantulas to tigers, Sy’s life continually intersects with and is informed by the creatures she meets.
This restorative memoir reflects on the personalities and quirks of thirteen animals - Sy's friends - and the truths revealed by their grace. It also explores vast themes: the otherness and sameness of people and animals; the various ways we learn to love and become empathetic; how we find our passion; how we create our families; coping with loss and despair; gratitude; forgiveness; and most of all, how to be a good creature in the world.
About the Author
Researching films, articles, and 22 books, Sy Montgomery has hiked the Altai Mountains of Mongolia looking for snow leopards, tracked tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea, and more. A National Book Award finalist, she has also been honoured with a Sibert Medal, two Science Book and Film prizes from the National Association for the Advancement of Science, three honorary degrees, and many other awards. -
Robbie Fowler
Robbie Fowler : My Life In Football
$35.00
To Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler was 'God'. He is the sixth-highest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League and notched 183 goals for Liverpool alone.Visit product page →
But before all of that, he was a Liverpool lad who loved the game, the Kop and everything that came with it. My Life In Football is the story of a boy who became a legend.
Born in Liverpool in 1975, Robbie Fowler became a club icon by the time he was 18. Now, he takes us through the games that have shaped his life and football philosophy, over 25 years after he first signed as a professional for Liverpool.
Engaging, personal and revealing, Robbie opens up about his astounding achievements, the price of fame and the regrets and struggles of being a professional footballer. From Hillsborough to Madrid, via the cup treble, that goal line celebration, hundreds of goals, Houllier, Benitez, Klopp and more, Robbie explains his thinking about the modern game. Inviting readers inside the dressing room, he shares stories of legendary teammates like Rush, Owen and Gerrard, as well as his rise to football's top table. How did he get back up so many times after the injuries that blighted his career? What gave him the drive to keep going and pursue his dreams?
Robbie's My Life In Football harks back to a simpler time when fans and players shared the same story, and when the local boy really could dream of scoring a hat-trick for his home club when Saturday came.
