What would you wish for if you had one wish that really could be granted - anything in the world or beyond it? Health? Wealth? Knowledge? Immortality? Power? This is the story of a wishing well with the ability to give people just that - their deepest desires. Whoever controls the well can control the fate of nations - or can they? In this story of deception, greed, rivalry and fear, the stakes could not be higher.

When Queen Stellaria (known as Queenie—she can't bear starchiness) and her court jester, Chucklegorgon, are threatened by a famine, everything starts to go wrong. Hunted by horrors and unnerved by shape-shifting deceptions, the friends must face their own fears and find a way through shadows from the past. They are so small and the darkness seems too big for them. How can they save their Kingdom? If you like 'The Chronicles of Narnia' you will love this world where loyalty and friendship a...

This book examines a collaborative partnership model between academia and Indigenous peoples, the goal of which is to integrate Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum. It demonstrates how the authentic and creative approaches employed have led to an evolution of curriculum and pedagogy that facilitates cultural competence among Australian graduate and undergraduate students.The book pursues an interdisciplinary approach based on highly practical examples, exemplars and methods...

This book will be essential reading for anyone studying Byzantine history in this period. It ranges in time from the death of the emperor Basil II in 1025 to the sacking of the city of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusaders in 1204, spanning the rise and fall of the successful Komnenos dynasty. Eleventh-century Byzantine history is unusual in that imperial women were able to wield immense power and in this ground-breaking book Dr Hill explores why this was possible and, equally, why they l...

"I've always said I will write anywhere. You could throw me into prison, cut off my arms and legs and you will find me in the morning with a pen in my mouth writing on the floor." Collected here for the first time are selected letters from the private correspondence of one of Australia's most loved authors, Kate Llewellyn ("The Waterlily", "A Fig at the Gate"). Written with her distinctive ardour and enthusiasm, skipping some words, shortening others, she discusses poetry, art, sex and garden...

What would you wish for if you had one wish that really could be granted - anything in the world or beyond it? Health? Wealth? Knowledge? Immortality? Power? This is the story of a wishing well with the amazing ability to give people just that - their deepest desires. Whoever controls the well can control the fate of nations - or can they? Join the desperate race to discover its whereabouts. New friends are made and old enemies are reunited but one thing is sure - no one who visits the wel...

When the Queen (known as Queenie - she can’t bear starchiness) and her court jester, Chucklegorgon, are threatened by a famine, everything starts to go wrong.Hunted by horrors and unnerved by shape-shifting deceptions, the friends must face their own fears and find a way through shadows from the past. But they are so small and the darkness seems too big for them. How can they save the Kingdom? ‘The Sun and the Starlings’ is a fantasy mystery adventure for children of eight years upwards. I...

The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Rome generated its own nemesis. Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors it called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling the Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. Heather is a leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians. In The Fall of the Roman Empire, he explores the extraordina...

The rocking motion of the train as it speeds along, the sound of its wheels on the rails . . . There’s something special about this form of travel that makes for easy conversation, which is just what happens to the four strangers who meet in Trains and Lovers.As they journey by rail from Edinburgh to London, the four travelers pass the time by sharing tales of trains that have changed their lives. A young, keen-eyed Scotsman recounts how he turned a friendship with a femal...

Why did Rome fall?Vicious barbarian invasions during the fifth century resulted in the cataclysmic end of the world's most powerful civilization, and a 'dark age' for its conquered peoples. Or did it? The dominant view of this period today is that the 'fall of Rome' was a largely peaceful transition to Germanic rule, and the start of a positive cultural transformation.Bryan Ward-Perkins encourages every reader to think again by reclaiming the drama and violence of the last days of the Roma...

The rise and fall of the Roman Republic occupies a special place in the history of Western civilization. From humble beginnings on the seven hills beside the Tiber, the city of Rome grew to dominate the ancient Mediterranean. Led by her senatorial aristocracy, Republican armies defeated Carthage and the successor kingdoms of Alexander the Great, and brought the surrounding peoples to east and west into the Roman sphere. Yet the triumph of the Republic was also its tragedy. In this Very Sho...

A heart-warming short story that will make us laugh and cry, and remind us why the little things in our lives are so important, from one of Australia’s best-loved writers, William McInnes. Lachlan and his dad head down to the oval for the under-twelves cricket game, as they do most Saturdays in the season; it’s part of their routine. Lachlan hopes he’ll get some runs. His dad is happy to stand on the sidelines with the other cricket parents, drink coffee and cheer the team on. But this wee...