Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

$24.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Sapiens shows us where we came from. Homo Deus shows us where we're going. Yuval Noah Harari envisions a near future in which we face a new set of challenges. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond - from o vercoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: how can we protect this fragile world from our own destructive power? And what does our future hold? 'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before' Daniel Kahneman ...Show more

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Patterns of Life) by Yuval Noah Harari

$24.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY | Series: Patterns of Life Ser.

New York Times Bestseller A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1 international bestseller--that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human." One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem. ...Show more

Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester

$24.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY | Reading Level: very good

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2018 Bestselling author Simon Winchester writes a magnificent history of the pioneering engineers who developed precision machinery to allow us to see as far as the moon and as close as the Higgs boson. Precision is the key to everything. It is an int egral, unchallenged and essential component of our modern social, mercantile, scientific, mechanical and intellectual landscapes. The items we value in our daily lives - a camera, phone, computer, bicycle, car, a dishwasher perhaps - all sport components that fit together with precision and operate with near perfection. We also assume that the more precise a device the better it is. And yet whilst we live lives peppered and larded with precision, we are not, when we come to think about it, entirely sure what precision is, or what it means. How and when did it begin to build the modern world? Simon Winchester seeks to answer these questions through stories of precision's pioneers. Exactly takes us back to the origins of the Industrial Age, to Britain where he introduces the scientific minds that helped usher in modern production: John 'Iron-Mad' Wilkinson, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah, Jesse Ramsden, and Joseph Whitworth. Thomas Jefferson exported their discoveries to the United States as manufacturing developed in the early twentieth century, with Britain's Henry Royce developing the Rolls Royce and Henry Ford mass producing cars, Hattori's Seiko and Leica lenses, to today's cutting-edge developments from Europe, Asia and North America. As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? What are the different tools we use to measure it? Who has invented and perfected it? Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art, and high culture? Are we missing something that reflects the world as it is, rather than the world as we think we would wish it to be? And can the precise and the natural co-exist in society? ...Show more

Through Ice and Fire by Sarah Laverick

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

The wild and desolate expanses of Antarctica have been the setting for many famous exploits and misadventures: a place where every decision has life-or-death consequences. The legendary tales of tragedy and triumph experienced by explorers such as Shackleton, Mawson and Scott continue to inspire to thi s day, and their faithful ships, the Endurance, Aurora and Tera Nova are vivid characters in their fateful voyages of discovery. Australia's first Antarctic flagship, Aurora Australis, and her crews have likewise secured a place in Antarctic history. This is the 30-year story of Aurora Australis and of her various human cargoes - crew, technicians, scientists, explorers, writers and artists. It's the tale of a problem-plagued construction, two devastating fires, a crippling besetment in ice and a blizzard-induced grounding in Antarctica. It tells of brave rescue missions of other ships and their near-frozen crews, and of the heroic administering of medical help while battling life-threatening temperatures and hurricane-force winds. Aurora, and those who sail within her, has always triumphed over adversity, even when the odds seemed insurmountably stacked against success. This is a tale of engineering brilliance, team tenacity and human resilience. It brings to life perilous journeys and stunning scientific discoveries, while pausing to wonder at the richness of the wildlife and the sparse mythic beauty of the barren landscapes. It transforms the Aurora Australis into a compelling character in Australia's chapter of Antarctic history and makes heroes of the men and women who have guided her through the most inhospitable seascapes on earth. ...Show more

Politics Now: The Best of David Rowe by David Rowe

$32.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

A riveting collection from Australia's finest and most instantly recognisable political cartoonist. This first and long-awaited collection throws us into the grotesque, malformed, and subterranean world that is Rowe's vision of politics now. Enter at your own risk. Featuring all the madness and downrigh t stupidity of the past five years, Rowe's freakish burlesque includes the usual suspects- Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, and Bill Shorten, as well as a host of minor monstrosities who you would rather forget lest they haunt your dreams. Rowe is one of the few Australian cartoonists who pay close attention to international affairs. There are cartoons on China, Europe, the UK, and the slow-motion train wreck of Brexit, wars in the Middle East, terror, and the rise of authoritarians. And, of course, Donald Trump. No cartoonist in the world, and that includes those from the US, has laid bare the Donald and his debauched administration with such devastating insight and wit. If the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom, then David Rowe is indeed a wise man, for beneath the outrageous gothic menagerie of Rowe's imagination is a fierce intelligence and ethical sense combined with superb artistry. This essential collection features his finest political cartoons, caricatures, and sketches from the past five years. With an introduction by Laura Tingle, one of Australia's most respected journalists. ...Show more

Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell by Louise Milligan

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

George Pell is the most recognisable face of the Australian Catholic Church. He was the Ballarat boy with the film-star looks who studied at Oxford and rose through the ranks to become the Vatican's indispensable 'Treasurer'. As an outspoken defender of church orthodoxy, 'Big George's' ascendancy within the clergy was remarkable and seemingly unstoppable. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse has brought to light horrific stories about sexual abuse of the most vulnerable and provoked public anger at the extent of the cover-up. George Pell has always portrayed himself as the first man in the Church to tackle the problem. But questions about what the Cardinal knew, and when, have persisted. The nation's most prominent Catholic is now the subject of a police investigation into allegations spanning decades that he too abused children. Louise Milligan is the only Australian journalist who has been privy to the most intimate stories of complainants. She pieces together a series of disturbing pictures of the Cardinal's knowledge and his actions, many of which are being told here for the first time. Conspiracy or cover-up? Cardinal uncovers uncomfortable truths about a culture of sexual entitlement, abuse of trust and how ambition can silence evil. ...Show more

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple

$29.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY | Reading Level: 4 Non Fiction

From the bestselling author of Return of a King, the story of how the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia, and the devastating results of the corporation running a country.In August 1765, the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and set up, in his place, a go vernment run by English traders who collected taxes through means of a private army. The creation of this new government marked the moment that the East India Company ceased to be a conventional company and became something much more unusual: an international corporation transformed into an aggressive colonial power. Over the course of the next 47 years, the company's reach grew until almost all of India south of Delhi was effectively ruled from a boardroom in the city of London.The Anarchy tells one of history's most remarkable stories: how the Mughal Empire-which dominated world trade and manufacturing and possessed almost unlimited resources-fell apart and was replaced by a multinational corporation based thousands of miles overseas, and answerable to shareholders, most of whom had never even seen India and no idea about the country whose wealth was providing their dividends. Using previously untapped sources, Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before and provides a portrait of the devastating results from the abuse of corporate power. ...Show more

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Ignited a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

$32.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY | Reading Level: 4 Non Fiction

'We were determined, from the start, to give a voice to the voiceless.' KANTOR AND TWOHEY On October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an article by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey that helped change the world. For months Kantor and Twohey had been having confidential discussions with top ac tresses, former Weinstein employees and other sources, learning of disturbing, long-buried allegations. The journalists meticulously picked their way through a web of decades-old secret payouts and non-disclosure agreements, pressed some of the most famous women in the world – and some unknown ones – to risk going on the record, and faced down Weinstein, his team of high-priced defenders, and even his private investigators.In She Said, Kantor and Twohey relive in real-time what it took to break the story and give an up-close portrait of the forces they were up against. They describe the experiences of the women who spoke up – for the sake of other women, for future generations, and for themselves. Their stories have never been told in this way before. ...Show more

Reflections of the Jetty : The Story of Busselton Jetty by Busselton Oral History Group

$22.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Noodle Maker of Kalimpong: The Untold Story of the Dalai Lama and the Secret Struggle for Tibet by Gyalo Thondup

$35.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

For over half a century, noodlemaker Gyalo Thondup has been a familiar figure in the Himalayan hill town of Kalimpong. But it was not until 2010 that the townsfolk discovered his true identity: Gyalo Thondup is none other than the older brother of the Dalai Lama and his special envoy, a trusted interloc utor between Tibet and foreign leaders from Chiang Kai-shek to Jawaharlal Nehru, Zhou Enlai to Deng Xiaoping. Indeed, only the Dalai Lama himself has played a more important role in the political history of modern, tragedy-ridden Tibet. Now, for the first time, Gyalo Thondup is prepared to tell his story. His remarkable account offers an intimate, personal look at the Dalai Lama and his immediate family, as well as an insider's view of the vicious and sometimes deadly struggles within the Potala Palace - the seat of power in Tibet. His is a story of the 'real' Tibet - a country that is secular as well as sacred, where the source of conflict is not just with China but between Tibetans themselves. Candid and insightful, this long-awaited account reveals Gyalo Thondup to have been a key figure in the great game played out by China, India, Russia and the United States over the strategically important Tibetan plateau. ...Show more

The Catalpa Rescue: The Most Dramatic & Successful Prison Break in Australian History by Peter FitzSimons

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY | Reading Level: near fine

The incredible true story of one of the most extraordinary and inspirational prison breaks in Australian history. New York, 1874. Members of the Clan-na-Gael - agitators for Irish freedom from the English yoke - hatch a daring plan to free six Irish political prisoners from the most remote prison in the Britsh Empire, Fremantle Prison in Western Australia. Under the guise of a whale hunt, Captain Anthony sets sail on the Catalpa to rescue the men from the stone walls of this hell on Earth known to the inmates as a 'living tomb'. What follows is one of history's most stirring sagas that splices Irish, American, British and Australian history together in its climatic moment. For Ireland, who had suffered English occupation for 700 years, a successful escape was an inspirational call to arms. For America, it was a chance to slap back at Britain for their support of the South in the Civil War; for England, a humiliation. And for a young Australia, still not sure if it was Great Britain in the South Seas or worthy of being an independent country in its own right, it was proof that Great Britain was not unbeatable. Told with FitzSimons' trademark combination of arresting history and storytelling verve, The Catalpa Rescue is a tale of courage and cunning, the fight for independence and the triumph of good men, against all odds. ...Show more

Batavia by Peter FitzSimons

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Bataviais the greatest story in Australia?s history and history comes to life with Peter Fitzsimons.The Shipwreck of the Batavia combines in just the one tale the birth of the world's first corporation, the brutality of colonisation, the battle of good vs evil, the derring-do of sea-faring adventure, mu tiny, ship-wreck, love, lust, blood-lust, petty fascist dictatorship, criminality, a reign of terror, murders most foul, sexual slavery, natural nobility, survival, retribution, rescue, first contact with native peoples and so much more. Described by author Peter FitzSimons as "a true Adults Only version of Lord of the Flies, meeting Nightmare on Elm Street," the story is set in 1629, when the pride of the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, is on its maiden voyage en route from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, laden down with the greatest treasure to leave Holland. The magnificent ship is already boiling over with a mutinous plot that is just about to break into the open when, just off the coast of Western Australia, it strikes an unseen reef in the middle of the night. While Commandeur Francisco Pelsaert decides to take the long-boat across 2000 miles of open sea for help, his second-in-command Jeronimus Cornelisz takes over, quickly deciding that 250 people on a small island is unwieldy for the small number of supplies they have. Quietly, he puts forward a plan to 40 odd mutineers how they could save themselves, kill most of the rest and spare only a half-dozen or so women, including his personal fancy, Lucretia Jansz - one of the noted beauties of Holland - to service their sexual needs. A reign of terror begins, countered only by a previously anonymous soldier Wiebbe Hayes, who begins to gather to him those are prepared to do what it takes to survive . . . hoping against hope that the Commandeur will soon be coming back to them with the rescue yacht. It all happened, long ago, and it is for a very good reason that Peter FitzSimons has long maintained that this is "far and away the greatest story in Australia's history, if not the world's." FitzSimons unique writing style has made him the country's best-selling non-fiction writer over the last ten years, and he is perfect man to make this bloody, chilling, stunning tale come alive. ...Show more