True stories Books

In Vietnam in 1969 Keith Payne was leading a company of indigenous Montagnard soldiers when they were overrun by a large force of North Vietnam regulars. When the company was withdrawn many wounded were left behind and Payne returned to the battlefield...

A simple, moving, vivid and heartbreaking account of one young sailor's eventful war. I heard the cries of scared men yelling they couldn't swim, but they jumped in regardless. I pulled off my new boots, dropped them on the deck and, clutching my...

Amanda Knox, the young exchange student whose conviction and acquittal on murder charges in Italy made headlines worldwide, tells her own story for the very first time in an unflinching, deeply personal account. In November 2007, Amanda Knox had been...

Gripping and clear eyed, this is the inside story of a choice no parent should have to make. It was a case which made international headlines in 2006: two small girls, Cedar, 3 and Hannah, 5, were abducted by their Lebanese-Australian father, Joe, and...

The inside scoop on the Gangland murders... and other Australian true crime stories. true crime with a twist. Here is the criminal underground at work: gangland warriors, serial killers, drug dealers and thieves. Melbourne gangland figures Mick Gatto...

The first full-length biography of George Ingle Finch - maverick Australian mountaineer, scientist, concert pianist and father of actor Peter Finch.  George Ingle Finch, mountaineer, soldier, scientist, rebellious spirit, boy from the bush, was in...

(Previously published as ‘After the Flood’)Former RAF Tornado Navigator and Gulf War veteran John Nichol sets out on a personal journey to discover what happened to 617 Squadron after the flood. RAF 617 Squadron’s destruction of the dams at the heart of...

A masterful, revelatory work of literary non-fiction about a teenage girl’s shocking crime — and its extraordinary aftermath. 'An absorbing work of social history and a story about the mystery and miracle of forgiveness...it deserves to be read with...

WHEN PARADISE TURNS TO CHAOS, WHO WILL SURVIVE? An incredible true story of murder, romance and a fateful search for utopia in the Galápagos from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden ParkAt the height of the Great Depression, Los...

A gripping memoir by a former NZSAS commander on serving in Afghanistan over four deployments and operating at the edge of his limits 'Frighteningly, devastatingly real.' - The Post In 2011, following the Taliban siege on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel,...

Haunting true crime stories of the supernatural and paranormal The most haunted home that world-famous ghost hunter Lorraine Warren ever stepped foot in was a three-bedroom brick home in suburban Sydney.FORGET THE HORRORS OF AMITYVILLE AND DELVE INTO...

'A story of grit and determination from a woman who writes the way she lives - fiercely, with passion and in full colour.' - Michele A'Court 'There are times, admittedly rare, when a book comes along that needs only one word to evaluate it. In the case...

Gaia was groomed, abused and enslaved – but then she fought back Gaia Cooper is just 14 years old when she is groomed by a criminal gang and forced to commit organised credit card fraud.Despite being placed in care – somewhere Gaia should feel safe –...

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2023‘Grippingly vivid and pacey’ THE TIMES‘A seven-year old girl on a seventy-foot yacht, for ten years, over fifty thousand miles of sailing’ SIMON WINCHESTER 'An astonishing almost day-by-day...

‘Grimly fascinating … engrossing’ Daily Mail NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION. In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators...

THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER'Reads like a thriller… I couldn't put Max Hastings's new book down' DAILY MAIL'Hastings is a master of drama, a writer intimately familiar with the mind of the soldier' THE TIMES Operation Biting was one of the most...

A captivating, eloquent and nuanced book, We All Go into the Dark is an absolute must-read for true-crime fans across the board. Three women were brutally murdered between early 1968 and late 1969, each after a night dancing at Glasgow’s infamous...

Sweetpea TV series starring Ella Purnell now on Sky Atlantic! Everyone’s favourite serial killer is back, and she’s more unpredictable than ever… Readers LOVE Thorn in My Side‘Perfect for fans of a snarky narrative’ NetGalley reviewer ‘I absolutely...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"A fast-paced debut...Espionage buffs will savor this vibrant account." - Publishers Weekly A U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on...

"A beguiling tale of espionage and double-dealing in the years leading up to World War II. ... Strap in for a narrative that demands a suspension of disbelief—and richly rewards it." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review); Best Books of February...

'Pentridge was a place of murder and mayhem. A bluestone hell. The worst prison Australia has ever seen.' Andrew Kirby, former inmate Welcome to Pentridge, Australia's most infamous prison.In the long-awaited return to his bestselling true crime series...

The Iraq War’s only living Medal of Honor recipient reveals the untold story of the remarkable brotherhood behind one of the war’s legendary acts of valor In 2004, he stormed an enemy stronghold to save his platoon. Fourteen years later, his unit...

SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘If you think the UK isn't corrupt, you haven't looked hard enough … This terrifying book follows a global current of dirty money, and the murders and kidnappings required to sustain it’ GEORGE MONBIOT, GUARDIANAN ECONOMIST AND...

Underbelly meets Molly's Game - the true crime investigation that rewrote the story of Melbourne's infamous gangland war and triggered a royal commission. Melbourne's gangland war was an era dominated by murders, stings, hits, drug busts, corruption and...

NUMBER 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERNo one is born a leader. But through sheer determination and by confronting life’s challenges, Ant Middleton has come to know the meaning of true leadership. In First Man In, he shares the core lessons he’s learned over...

“Powerful. . . . A candid, highly informative, and heartfelt tale of forgiveness between former fierce enemies in the Vietnam War.” —St. Petersburg TimesThe #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young brought to life one of the...

Daniel Reingold was one of the top analysts on Wall Street, specializing in telecom companies such as WorldCom and Qwest. Reingold believed in Wall Street, but in this memoir he describes how his enthusiasm gradually gave way to disgust when he saw how...

Internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass tells the story of one of the first children that she fostered. Little Beth, aged 7, had been brought up by her father after her mother left when she was a toddler. But when he’s suddenly...

Can I Let You Go? is the true story of Faye, a wonderful young woman who may never be able to parent her unborn child. Faye is 24, pregnant, and has learning difficulties as a result of her mother’s alcoholism. Faye is gentle, childlike and vulnerable,...

The definitive account of Australia's most notorious criminal case When bodies were discovered in barrels in 1999, hidden within a bank vault in Snowtown in South Australia, Jeremy Pudney was one of the first journalists on the scene. Now, using his...

The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir of U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle, and the source for Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster, Academy-Award nominated movie.  “An amazingly detailed account of fighting in Iraq--a humanizing, brave story that’s...

The definitive account of when Australia's famed Rats of Tobruk they took on General Erwin Rommel, The Desert Fox. The classic story of 1941's Battle of Tobruk, in which more than 15,000 Australian troops - backed by British artillery - fought in...

Yarns and memories that capture the experience of policing in the bush, gathered by the inimitable Bill 'Swampy' Marsh, bestselling author of GREAT AUSTRALIAN FLYING DOCTOR STORIES and GREAT AUSTRALIAN CWA STORIES.  'I tell you, you meet some...

The gripping true story of the woman who became the Gestapo's most wanted spy In the early 1930s, Nancy Wake was a young woman enjoying a bohemian life in Paris. By the end of the Second World War, she was the Gestapo's most wanted person. As a naïve,...

The fifteenth fostering memoir by Cathy Glass. Danny was petrified and clung to me in desperation as I carried him to my car. Trapped in his own dark world, he couldn't understand why his parents no longer loved or wanted him, and were sending him away...

‘I’m going to love my baby and give her lots of attention,’ Jade said. ‘I’ll show my mum she’s wrong.’Jade, 17, is pregnant, homeless and alone when she’s brought to live with Cathy. Jade is desperate to keep her baby, but little more than a child...

A magisterial history of the greatest and most terrible event in history, from one of the finest historians of the Second World War. A book which shows the impact of war upon hundreds of millions of people around the world- soldiers, sailors and airmen;...

A classic memoir of prison breaks and adventure – a bestselling phenomenon of the 1960s Condemned for a murder he had not committed, Henri Charrière (nicknamed Papillon) was sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. Forty-two days after his arrival he...