Australia & Oceania Audiobooks | History

Where Soldiers Lie: The Quest to Find Australia's Missing War Dead

What drives veterans, military experts and forensic investigators to dedicate years to search for and identify the remains of fallen warriors? What does it mean to the families of the dead to be able to lay them to rest? Over thirty five thousand Australian soldiers and airmen are still listed as Missing In Action from the wars of the 20th Century. Telling the moving story of the determination and skill of the searchers who apply old-fashioned detective work and cutting-edge science to solve the mysteries of the missing and bring peace of mind and solace to their families and to all those who serve, Where Soldiers Lie follows these investigators and scientists on their mission to locate and identify unrecovered war casualties and to unlock their secrets. From the jungles of Vietnam, where one man led a decade-long battle to recover and bring home the final six, to Korea, Papua New Guinea and the fields of the Somme, Flanders and Fromelles, Where Soldiers Lie is a deeply human story of perseverance, luck and resolution, a story of incredible determination against difficult odds, of exacting forensic analysis and painstaking detective work, to uncover and identify the remains of Australian soldiers, in battlefield over the decades, and to bring their remains home. Powerful, moving and compelling reading. 'At times it is a heartbreaking story. At other times, it's a detective story. On a deeper level, a book such as Where Soldiers Lie, which honours and commemorates these lost heroes, offers a form of grief and acceptance in its own right.' Herald Sun

Ian McPhedran (Author), Peter Byrne (Narrator)

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Uluru: The History and Legacy of the Australian Landmark Considered Sacred by the Local Aborigines

The magnificent monolith the locals call "Uluru," situated in the heart of Australia, hovers over a patchy bed of desert poplars and spinifex grasslands. The pleasant, but otherwise unexceptional surroundings of the spellbinding sandstone landform only further accentuates its majesty, one that can be appreciated from a variety of angles. To lime-colored budgerigars, mighty brown falcons, passengers in planes and helicopters, and other creatures blessed with the gift of flight, the free-form rock is reminiscent of the fossil of a spiky fish, a misshapen arrowhead, or perhaps a peculiar, ocher-tinged seashell peeking out of the sand. To those gazing upon the natural gem on solid ground, the flat-topped, burnt sienna beauty, marked with character-forming dimples, ripples, and ridges, looks more like a sleeping, thousand-year-old turtle, particularly through squinted eyes. Its striking appearance aside, Uluru, also known as "Ayers Rock," is far more than an unmissable landmark. Uluru represents an inimitable symbol of life and culture, and a place of worship sacred to the region's aboriginal inhabitants. Given the long and riveting history attached to this hallowed rock, the aura of mysticality and mystery that clings to Uluru should come as no surprise. Not only does the rock's flaky surface change color throughout the day - going from a deep violet with hints of gray to a light lilac, to a fiery orange-red during sunrise, and from its usual apricot-gold to a faded orange, to a dreamy purplish-pink at dusk - Uluru, they say, is an endless source of inexplicable happenings and paranormal occurrences.

Charles River Editors (Author), David Bernard (Narrator)

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Where Soldiers Lie: The Quest to Find Australia's Missing War Dead

Ian McPhedran, Ian Mcphedran (Author), Peter Byrne (Narrator)

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The Diggers of Colditz: The classic Australian POW story about escape from the impossible

Colditz Castle was Nazi Germany's infamous 'escape-proof' wartime prison, where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful Allied prisoners were sent. Despite having more guards than inmates, Australian Lieutenant Jack Champ and other prisoners tirelessly carried out their campaign to escape from the massive floodlit stronghold, by any means necessary. In this riveting account - by turns humorous, heartfelt and tragic - historian Colin Burgess and Lieutenant Jack Champ, from the point of view of the prisoners themselves, tell the story of the twenty Australians who made this castle their 'home', and the plans they made that were so crazy that some even achieved the seemingly impossible - escape! 'A stirring testimony of mateship . . . We are often on tenterhooks, always impressed by their determination, industry and courage' Australian Book Review

Colin Burgess, Jack Champ (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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The Hero from Nithdale Station: The remarkable true-life story of Major Charles W.H. Tripp - 'The Bo

Be inspired by the courage of this hard-working Southland farmer who led the First Commando Fiji Guerrillas in World War II. My parents were an exceptional couple. Their characters and influence in the local community, the farming world and in a much wider sphere were significant. My father's contribution to the war effort in the Solomon Islands, and the well-deserved Silver Star awarded to him by the Americans, is a unique story that you will not find in many of the war histories. My mother also made a huge impact in her community and was awarded a QSM for her work. ~DICK TRIPP A more enjoyable glimpse into the life and times of one of this community's cornerstone families I haven't ever experienced. ~Tracy Hicks, Gore District Mayor What better way do we have to learn other than from those who have gone before us. ~Ian (Inky) Tulloch, former Mayor of Gore District What an interesting and unique book this is! It combines two things that New Zealand readers love: tales of how our back country was tamed, and action adventures of our modest war heroes. ~Dr Bob Robinson, Laidlaw College DICK TRIPP was born on Nithdale Station in the south of New Zealand. He attended Cambridge University, where his father and grandfather had attended before him. He is on the Board of the family farm, now owned by one of his sons. He has written many books and considers it a privilege to honour his father and mother in this collection of true stories. Dick is married to Sally, and they have three sons and eight grandchildren

Dick Tripp (Author), Ian A. Miller, Miller Ian A (Narrator)

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Huia Come Home

Once the sacred guardian of New Zealand's native forests, the huia was a symbol of the land's unique beauty and spirituality. The rare bird's tragic extinction in the early 1900s represents a shot to the heart of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and is a potent metaphor for a country's conflicted history. Using the story of the untimely extinction of the huia, J. Ruka offers a fresh perspective on the narrative of Aotearoa; a tale of two cultures, warring worldviews, and the things we lost in translation. Revisiting the early missionaries, the transformative message of the gospel and the cultural missteps of the Treaty of Waitangi, Huia Come Home invites us to reconnect with the unique story offered by the indigenous M?ori lens. In relearning our history, we might just find a shared hope for the future and a recovery of national treasures once thought to be extinct. Audio Production by Te Umu Nui. Music by J. Ruka. Re-creation of the huia call by Henare H?mana (Te Aitanga-a-M?haki, Ng?ti Porou) Recorded by the New Zealand Broadcasting Service 1949. Copyright Ng? Taonga Sound & Vision.

J. Ruka (Author), J. Ruka (Narrator)

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A Passion for Fashion: The Life of Lindsay Kennett Master Milliner

The life of Lindsay Kennett Master milliner. Lindsay Kennett developed his passion for fashion as a young boy in the isolated Paradise and Glenorchy regions of Otago. The fashionable clothes worn by day tourists arriving at Glenorchy on the Lake Wakatipu steamers intrigued Lindsay and provided the genesis of his career as a master milliner. By the time Lindsay entered art school in Dunedin, he was a young man obsessed with drawing, painting and creating shapes and designs. Work as a department store window dresser and fashion illustrator in Dunedin led to similar work in Wellington. There, he taught himself to make hats. Soon after, he moved to Auckland, securing immediate success when Aage Thaarup, the Queen's milliner, asked Lindsay to help him make hats for society clientele during the Queen's 1953 visit to New Zealand. Lindsay went on to create hats for fashion-conscious women all over New Zealand. His millinery salon in Parnell attracted many interesting patrons, and his numerous 'travelling hat shows' brought delight to all who attended them. During these years, Lindsay embraced New Zealand's increasing receptiveness to international influences. He revelled in films, music and new foods, enjoyed a full social life and continued to paint and sketch whenever time permitted. Since his ostensible retirement in Dunedin in the early 1990s, Lindsay has held sell-out shows and exhibitions of his hats and artwork to raise money for charities, been much in demand as a raconteur, and helped women in Niue shape their traditional woven straw hats into fashion statements. Superb photographs of just some of Lindsay's collection of 100 hats illustrating millinery fashions from 1900 to 1990 complement this engaging memoir.

Hilary E. Hunt (Author), Hilary E. Hunt, Paul Barrett (Narrator)

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Sea People: In Search of the Ancient Navigators of the Pacific

'Wonderfully researched and beautifully written' Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan 'Succeeds in conjuring a lost world' Dava Sobel, author of Longitude For more than a millennium, Polynesians have occupied the remotest islands in the Pacific Ocean, a vast triangle stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. Until the arrival of European explorers they were the only people to have ever lived there. Both the most closely related and the most widely dispersed people in the world before the era of mass migration, Polynesians can trace their roots to a group of epic voyagers who ventured out into the unknown in one of the greatest adventures in human history. How did the earliest Polynesians find and colonise these far-flung islands? How did a people without writing or metal tools conquer the largest ocean in the world? This conundrum, which came to be known as the Problem of Polynesian Origins, emerged in the eighteenth century as one of the great geographical mysteries of mankind. For Christina Thompson, this mystery is personal: her Maori husband and their sons descend directly from these ancient navigators. In Sea People, Thompson explores the fascinating story of these ancestors, as well as those of the many sailors, linguists, archaeologists, folklorists, biologists and geographers who have puzzled over this history for three hundred years. A masterful mix of history, geography, anthropology, and the science of navigation, Sea People is a vivid tour of one of the most captivating regions in the world.

Christina Thompson (Author), Susan Lyons (Narrator)

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Murder, Misadventure and Miserable Ends: Tales from a Colonial Coroner's Court

Murder, manslaughter, suicide, mishap - the very public business of determining death in colonial Sydney. Murder in colonial Sydney was a surprisingly rare occurrence, so when it did happen it caused a great sensation. People flocked to the scene of the crime, to the coroner's court and to the criminal courts to catch a glimpse of the accused. Most of us today rarely see a dead body. In nineteenth century Sydney, when health was precarious and workplaces and the busy city streets were often dangerous, witnessing a death was rather common. And any death that was sudden or suspicious would be investigated by the coroner. Henry Shiell was the Sydney City Coroner from 1866 to 1889. In the course of his unusually long career he delved into the lives, loves, crimes, homes and workplaces of colonial Sydneysiders. He learnt of envies, infidelities, passions, and loyalties, and just how short, sad and violent some lives were. But his court was also, at times, instrumental in calling for new laws and regulations to make life safer. Catie Gilchrist explores the nineteenth century city as a precarious place of bustling streets and rowdy hotels, harbourside wharves and dangerous industries. With few safety regulations, the colourful city was also a place of frequent inquests, silent morgues and solemn graveyards. This is the story of life and death in colonial Sydney. PRAISE 'Catie Gilchrist draws back the veil on death in nineteenth-century Sydney to reveal life - ordinary, tragic and hopeful' David Hunt, author of Girt and True Girt

Dr Catie Gilchrist (Author), Dr Catie Gilchrist, Emma Grant Williams (Narrator)

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The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook, with Sam Neill

A rich, complex and engaging account of Cook's voyages across the Pacific, from actor and raconteur Sam Neill, in which Sam Neill retraces Cook's footsteps, in the 250th anniversary year of Cook's first voyage. Captain James Cook first set sail to the Pacific in 1768 - 250 years ago. These vast waters, one third of the earth's surface, were uncharted - but not unknown. A rich diversity of people and cultures navigated, traded, lived and fought here for thousands of years. Before Cook, the Pacific was disconnected from the power and ideas of Europe, Asia and America. In the wake of Cook, everything changed. The Pacific with Sam Neill is the companion book to the Foxtel documentary series of the same name, in which actor and raconteur Sam Neill takes a deeply personal, present-day voyage to map his own understanding of James Cook, Europe's greatest navigator, and the immense Pacific Ocean itself. Voyaging on a wide variety on vessels, from container ships to fishing trawlers and sailing boats, Sam crosses the length and breadth of the largest ocean in the world to experience for himself a contemporary journey in Cook's footsteps, engaging the past and present in both modern and ancient cultural practice and peoples. Fascinating, engaging, fresh and vital - this is history - but not as you know it.

Meaghan Wilson Anastasios (Author), Alan King (Narrator)

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Black Snake: Thief, Thug, Killer: The Real Story of Ned Kelly

Leo Kennedy is the great-grandson of Sergeant Michael Kennedy, slain by Ned Kelly at Stringybark Creek. Raised in the shadow of his great-grandfather's murder, Leo witnessed the deep psychological wounds inflicted on successive generations of his family - and the families of other victims - as the Ned Kelly myth grew around them and the sacrifice of their loved ones was forgotten. Leo himself was nicknamed 'Red Ned' at school and taunted for being on the wrong side of Australian history. Instead of celebrating a heroic man of the people, Leo gives voice to the victims of a merciless gang of outlaws. Through meticulous research and family history he tells the captivating true story of two men from similar backgrounds whose legacies were distorted by history.

Leo Kennedy, Mic Looby (Author), Gareth Rickards (Narrator)

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A Sporting Chance: Australian Sporting Scandals and the Path to Redemption

In Sport, the term 'good bloke' doesn't mean what it says. Like 'fun run', it in fact often means the exact opposite. Titus O'Reily, the sports historian Australia neither needs nor deserves, examines why our nation's sportspeople can do terrible things yet be so readily forgiven. In this Great Southern Land, a sportsman can be excused almost any sin if he is elevated to the mythical status of being a 'good bloke'. So, what does it take to earn the title of 'good bloke'? And can female athletes be good blokes too? With ridiculous tales from Australia's chequered sporting history, A Sporting Chance dissects the scandals big and small, the mistakes made in covering them up and the path athletes tread back to redemption. From the corrupt cop who gave us the race that stopped a nation, to the Australian boxing champion who refused to train - not to mention the sandpaper-loving Australian Test cricket team - Titus reveals the key archetypes at the heart of our greatest sporting scandals. In his own rambling and at times incoherent style he asks the question: are Australians really that forgiving of their sporting heroes? Or, with the rise of social media, women's sport and the drive towards greater equality, are the good blokes of Australia's sporting landscape becoming an endangered species? 'An indispensable voice for serious fans, who need to be reminded to take sport a little less seriously.' Inside Sport

Titus O'reily (Author), Titus O'reily (Narrator)

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Australia & Oceania Audiobooks in History