One of the greatest medieval warriors Harald Sigurdsson, nicknamed Hardrada (Harold the Ruthless or hard ruler) fell in battle in an attempt to snatch the crown of England. The spectacular and heroic career which ended at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire on 25 September 1066 had taken Harald from Norway to Russia and Constantinople and saw him gain a kingdom by force and determination rather than right or inheritance. He was one of the most feared rulers in Europe and was first and foremost a ...

Through most of eight hundred years, Somerled of Argyll has been variously denounced as an intractable rebel against his rightful king and esteemed as the honoured ancestor of the later medieval Lord of the Isles, but he can be recognised now as a much more complex figure of major prominence in twelfth-century Scotland and of truly landmark significance in the long history of the Gael. In this book individual chapters investigate his emergence in the forefront of the Gaelic-Norse aristocra...

"We were halfway up the spur when we heard it. Homer and Gavin and I, just the three of us... I'd say there were fifteen shots in the first volley, evenly spaced, lasting about twenty-five seconds... All the way down the spur I'd heard the scattered shots, getting closer as I got closer, and all the way down I tried to think of reasonable explanations for them, and I couldn't think of a single thing that made sense."The town of Wirrawee is emerging from wa...

She lives in the best suburb. She goes to the finest school. Her family is wealthy and powerful. She has everything money can buy. So why are there reporters outside her house? And why is her father telling lies on television? And why is the Premier talking about them in State Parliament? Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Riveting and compulsively readable, John Marsden's Checkers plunges us deep in the mind and world of a teenage girl whose life has spun completely out of c...

A riveting story of courage, hope and extraordinary adventure."You will hardly read a more fascinating account of a convict's voyage to Australia" Australian Book ReviewThirteen-year-old Barnaby Fletch is a bag-and-bones orphan in London in the late 1700s.Barnaby lives on his wits and ill-gotten gains, on streets seething with the press of the throng and shadowed by sinister figures. Life is a precarious business.Wh...

"… well worth reading and the reader gains some insight into the social life of crewmen at sea and on land." -National Maritime Historical Society Sunk by a U-boat, Attacked by Kamikazes tells the story of one man's experiences during the years 1939 to 1947. Aged sixteen when the war broke out, Joseph Marsden worked casual shiftwork on the Liverpool docks. Lucky to survive an air raid on the night of 4 May 1941, he lost two members of his family before the Liverpool blitz came to an end. O...

The follow-up to the bestselling Tomorrow seriesBOOK 2 IN THE ELLIE CHRONICLES TRILOGY"Addictive reading" Sydney Morning Herald"Australia's king of young adult fiction" The AustralianPacked full of action and high-drama, John Marsden delivers another fast-paced adventure that will thrill old fans and new readers alike."I held my line. I knew from the war, if not...

The follow-up to the bestselling Tomorrow seriesBOOK 3 IN THE ELLIE CHRONICLES TRILOGY"Addictive reading" Sydney Morning Herald"Australia's king of young adult fiction" The Australian"Skilfully paced, brimming with well-rounded characters whom you can believe in" The AgeYou jam on the brakes and stop the ute right at your front door. Yo...

When Ellie and six of her friends return home from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find things hideously wrong -- their families gone, houses empty and abandoned, pets and stock dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in the town has been taken prisoner. As the horrible reality of the situation becomes evident they have to make a life-and-death decision: to run back into the bush and hide, to give themselves up to be with their famili...

"Australia's king of young adult fiction" The AustralianWinter is sixteen. It's time to come home.For twelve years Winter has been haunted. Her past, her memories, her feelings, will not leave her alone. And now, at sixteen, the time has come for her to act.Every journey begins with a single step. If Winter is going to step into the future, she must first step into the past.Winter is an intense, em...

Coping with the death of his father and reeling from the marriage of his mother to his uncle, Hamlet has an encounter with his father’s ghost, who reveals the truth: he was murdered—by his brother! Urged by his father to seek revenge, Hamlet is wracked with indecision and spirals into depression. It seems that not even his best friend, Horatio, nor his love interest, Ophelia, can help him. A visiting acting troupe inspires Hamlet to form a plan, but he cannot foresee the devastation that w...

"Australia's king of young adult fiction" The AustralianShe has parents, a brother, friends and a dog. Sometimes the dog seems like the only one she can trust.Her life is about to fall apart.The dog is Checkers.The book is unforgettable.Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.