True stories Books

An essential introduction to Josephus's momentous war narrativeThe Jewish War is Josephus's superbly evocative account of the Jewish revolt against Rome, which was crushed in 70 CE with the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. Martin...

Dave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the cold war, he became the only one of...

Have you ever heard the story on the news of a politician being "found dead" or "committing suicide," and it seemed a little strange to you? You think, "There's something they're not telling me." Well, after you read Dead Wrong, you'll realize that your...

Do you have the locksmith's phone number on speed dial? Find yourself spending a fortune on new locks after someone lost their keys again? Forgot your keys in the car one too many times? Free yourself once and for all from ever having a keyless crisis...

In 1948 a man was found dead on an Adelaide beach. Well-dressed and unmarked, he had a half-smoked cigarette by his side, but no identity documents. Six decades on we don't know who he was, how he got there or how he died. Somerton Man remains one of...

Well-known Australians mavericks, activists, movers and shakers reflect on their own ASIO files.In this moving, funny and sometimes chilling book, leading Australians open their ASIO files and read what the state's security apparatus said about them...

The Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro is one of the most written-about men in the world today. Most approaches to his life are either hagiographies in which he can do no wrong, or rants in which he is the dictator who has kept the island of Cuba under his...

It has been called the most dangerous gang in American history. In Los Angeles alone it is responsible for over 100 homicides per year. Although it has fewer than 300 members, it controls a 40,000-strong street army that is eager to advance its agenda...

Australia's most baffling homicides and mysterious missing persons' cases are uniquely explored in this stunning true-crime book in which you the reader are invited to play armchair detective. Featuring 18 infamous cases, Unsolved Australia unearths a...

The thrilling untold story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters who broke the Harvey Weinstein story.   *NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CAREY MULLIGAN AND ZOE KAZAN* 'Explosive' Margaret Atwood 'Seismic' Observer 'Brilliant' Nigella Lawson...

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie...

All the big ideas from the most criminal of minds, simply explained "Investigate 100 of the world's most notorious crimes, including the Great Train Robbery, the Lindbergh kidnapping, and the murders of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.  Were the...

Truth can be stranger - and more heartbreaking and hilarious - than fiction. In this now classic work, Funder tells extraordinary stories from the most perfected surveillance state of all time, the former East Germany. She meets Miriam, condemned as an...

Diving doctor on the Thai Cave Rescue (now a Netflix series) and former joint Australian of the Year explores the stories of other people who regularly risk their lives and what we can learn from their expertise.  Are free-solo climbers, underwater cave...

THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER The day that turns a life upside down usually starts like any other, but what happens the day after? Dual Walkley Award-winner Leigh Sales investigates how ordinary people endure the unthinkable. 'Sales digs deep and bravely to...

On a country road in Croppa Creek, farmer Ian Turnbull faced environmental officer Glen Turner. What happened next shocked Australia. An epic true story of greed, power and a desire for legacy from an acclaimed Australian storyteller. July 2014, a...