Society & Social Sciences Books

In the early days we did painting. Cultural way. For ourselves.Then on the mission Sister Alice was working with the young men and women, like Gracie Green and Matthew Gill. We did a lot of landscapes at the start. Then after that people did a lot of...

A pioneer for women in international diplomacy, Sue Boyd shares this account of her life in foreign service.'An engaging account of life at the coalface by one of Australia's most active and effective diplomats and real pathfinder in leading our...

'It is important for us to read our own stories and to keep the tradition of our language for our future generations.' - Dereck Harris, Chairman, Ngaanyatjarra Council'In the Time of their Lives is a wonderful book that honours the extraordinary...

The Shipwrecks of the Roaring 40s project was funded by the Australian Research Council to investigate some of the earliest and most important shipwrecks in Western Australia, including the four Dutch East Indiamen wrecked in the 17th and 18th centuries...

This book challenges received mainstream and scholarly ideas about how and why child abuse occurs and offers fresh ideas about understanding how we can enhance young people's agency and can make a difference to their lives by ensuring they have an...

Revised and Updated, with analysis by the ABC's Antony Green.Veteran political journalist Peter Kennedy has spent nearly fifty years observing twelve Premiers of Western Australia, across an extraordinary period of change in Western Australia's history,...

How should the people that initiated a journey be remembered? What obligations arise as a result of their passing away? What role do films and photographs play in the process of memorialisation?Drawing on the events surrounding the arrival of the...

Dancing in Shadows explores the power of Indigenous performance pitted against the forces of settler colonisation. Historian Anna Haebich documents how the Nyungar people of Western Australia strategically and courageously adapted their rich performance...

'I love this state do not get me wrong. I love Queensland to bits. I don't want to live anywhere else in the world. But at that time we were four million years behind everything else, everyone else.'- LYN FRASERSince the end of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen...

The 1970s witnessed the emergence of a global environmental movement in response to rampant resource extraction. This moment gave rise to a celebrated 'green-black alliance' between environmentalists and Indigenous groups in Australia. However, in recent...

The hours were demanding but the pay was good. And the boozy lunches were even better. Australia's advertising agencies enjoyed their reputation as a glamorous and fun place to work. Not surprisingly, many of the nation's brightest and most creative...

Professor Sylvia J. Hallam FAHA has written a substantial Afterword to accompany a facsimile edition of her classic work from 1975, Fire and Hearth. In the light of considerable interest in this subject we are thrilled to release this work of...

This collection of essays explores historical, geographical and cultural factors that contribute to our understanding of places and settings of Australian transient communities. From Gwalia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, Charters Towers in...

Warren Braedon, named by his adoptive parents Louis St John Johnson, was taken from his mother in Alice Springs at just three months old. Told he had been abandoned, Louis's adoptive parents, Bill and Pauline Johnson raised him in a loving family in...

The revised edition of Reform and Resistance in Aboriginal Education takes a fresh look at the challenges and achievements that have occurred in this important area since the book's original release in 2003. Interest in Aboriginal education has increased...

Walter Murdoch, a popular broadcaster and public speaker, was one of Australia's bestselling twentieth-century authors. He published weekly essays in The Argus and other newspapers and his books sold in their tens of thousands. Complete with a Foreword...

In New Guinea’s jungles, a fierce battle turned the tide of the Pacific War—the first major land defeat for the unstoppable Japanese forces.By mid-August 1942, Imperial Japanese forces dominated the Southeast Asian and Pacific theatres, seemingly...

"From the skies over war-torn Europe to the opulent halls of English nobility, Edward Bagot's journey is a riveting testament to courage, heritage, and unwavering faith." Edward Bagot’s memoir offers a unique personal perspective on World War II,...

Wing Commander Vic Hodgkinson DFC served as a pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force throughout WWII. Starting in 1939, he was a founding member of 10 Squadron RAAF, operating Short Sunderland flying boats. Loaned to the RAF in early 1940, the squadron...

A heartbreaking account of enduring suffering and loss.When Cindy Gambino dropped her three boys off at their dad's on Father’s Day 2005 she had no idea she would never see them again. By day’s end, their bodies lay at the bottom of an icy dam, a tragedy...

“An invaluable guide.” Noel Whittaker, International bestselling author and finance writerWinner of the Australasian Journal on Ageing (AJA) Book Award. Informative and insightful, this is the essential family guide to navigating elder care and...

‘A much-needed resource empowering readers with powerful insights, a road map of practical strategies and above all else hope.’ Karen Young – child & adolescent anxiety specialist   Helping teens and tweens cope when times are tough...

Between 1946 and 1966 large numbers of displaced persons (DPs) came to Australia to escape the horrors of war-torn Europe. Peter Brune’s latest work had its genesis in more than 40 interviews he conducted with DPs in the period 2001—2022. He spoke to...

These cards share messages about the ways drumming can change your life.In the beginning was the sound of the primordial beat that was birthed from the great void, the Big Bang. This sacred resonance created sound, vibration and tempo. This deck focuses...

Global Megatrends tells a story about how the world will change over the next 20 years. 'Megatrends' are gradual yet powerful trajectories of change that have the potential to throw companies, individuals and societies into freefall. In Global...

Australia's coral reefs stretch far and wide, covering 50 000 square kilometres from the Indian Ocean in the West to the Pacific Ocean in the East. They have been viewed as a bedrock of coastal livelihoods, as uncharted and perilous nautical...

Two-way Science: An Integrated Learning Program for Aboriginal Desert Schools supports remote Indigenous schools and communities to develop integrated learning programs connecting the cultural knowledge of the local community with Western science and the...

In When Grandma Burnt Her Bra, author Samantha Tidy and illustrator Aśka depict the world as seen by a child whose own grandma, a loud and proud feminist, was part of the revolution that now benefits us all. Readers of all types will enjoy this...

The filthy back streets of London's East End in the Victorian era were home to every imaginable crime, vice and horror. Many thousands lived there without Christ and without hope, and no one seemed to care. But William Booth did care. In 1865 Booth...

In 1999, idealistic 23-year-old Registered Nurse Sharon Bown left her comfortable family life in Tasmania and joined the Royal Australian Air Force with the aim of providing humanitarian aid to the world. Through her 16-year military career she deployed...

As soon as war broke out in September 1939, the conflict at sea began. It raged without respite until the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan just under six years later. World War Two at Sea highlights the key moments in this absorbing story,...

Written by an experienced and awarded psychologist, Listening, Learning, Caring and Counselling is essential reading for counsellors, support workers, case workers, medical practitioners, health professionals — from physiotherapists, pharmacists,...

For centuries, tea has held a valued place in both Eastern and Western cultures. From the ritual of a Japanese tea ceremony to the cosy informality of an English cuppa at the kitchen table, tea (whether green, black, white or herb) soothes, grounds and...

The 30 stories in this book describe some of the most extraordinary events in New Zealand history. Who knew that a fire killed 39 people at Seacliff Mental Hospital in 1942? That 10 people died in a lahar on White Island in 1914? That a yacht race...

They were the best of enemies – dedicated, skilled and deadly. In the night skies above wartime Germany an RAF navigator-air bomber from New Zealand and a Luftwaffe pilot seek out their targets, testing the gap between success and their own destruction...

Today’s children struggle with a range of issues, from depression and anxiety to poor body image and low self-esteem. In fact, research suggests that at any given time around 10 per cent of students will be suffering from a mental health issue that...

The book is to be used as an inspiration to start living a lifestyle connected to nature’s rhythm and it can be used as a workbook where the reader follows the season by carrying through through the activities, journeys and ceremonies.

An exhilarating journey exploring the relationships between myth, magic, man and nature, through the symbol of the dragon and guided by the oracle of the runes.  This book is an immersion into the revival of the rich living tradition from Scandinavia...

Due to our fast-paced society, the impact of social media, and the threat of climate change, today’s children are facing challenges unique to their generation. Incorporating mindfulness as part of their curriculum—whether in a classroom or a home school...

The widest sources of most superstitions begin with some kind of religious practice and belief. Whether a comfort or fear many beliefs and practices still abound no matter in what part of your culture you may exist. Superstition holds a fascination for...

Often we ask, is the way we live really the way we want to live? But do we stop to question whether our lives reflect who we are deep inside? Many sense, at a subconscious level, that they don't. How can they, when we live in a time of such faithless,...

A walk in the woods. The world of the tree looked at and examined from the first tree to the latest research. The magical attributes of trees and their uses including how the Druids work with trees and their role in your garden. The tree is a global...

She is incredibly tall, clothed in heavy furs and leathers. Her boots make a loud thud with each step. On her back snow shoes are strapped, on her hip a pouch filled with dried meats. Her hair is woven intricately in braids with bones and beads...

With their origins in prehistory, pagan sigils were part of our ancestor’s pictorial language, created in a golden age of symbol literacy.Following a millennia of religious repression and demonization by the Christian church, they were rediscovered and...

Orcapedia presents a sobering look at the current imprisonment of a highly intelligent, socially complex, non-threatening species—orcas—by an industry strictly for profit. Many remember the movement to release Keiko, the orca who appeared in the family...