The construction of the Overland Telegraph in 1870 is an extraordinary feat of engineering and a wild gamble that nearly went terribly wrong.It was the greatest feat of engineering in nineteenth-century Australia, but it very nearly collapsed in the face of monumental obstacles.The year was 1870, and mail took six weeks to get to England by sea. Australians hungered for the speedy communication a telegraph connection would bring. Engineer Charles Todd promi...

All around Australia, former WRANs and navy men regard the woman they know as Mrs Mac with a level of reverence usually reserved for saints. Yet today no-one has any idea of who she was and how she rescued Australia's communication systems in World War II.Winner, Best 2020 Non-fiction, ACT Notable AwardsAs you climbed the rickety stairs of an old woolshed at Sydney harbour in 1944, you would hear the thrum of clicks and buz...

David Dufty goes back to the records to uncover the real story of the police officers who pursued the Kelly Gang. This pacey account of the capture of the Kelly Gang reads like a detective story.Shortlisted for the 2023 Danger AwardsHe lurched through the gun smoke, his head encased in an iron helmet, and started shooting. To the weary police in the cordon around the Glenrowan hotel, he appeared like a monster, or a creature from hell.

Alan Turing saved millions of lives. But Bletchley Park wasn’t the only major code-breaking operation during World War II. Down under, there was Central Bureau.Central Bureau — Australia’s own large and sophisticated intelligence network, built from scratch. It was this group of mathematicians, code-breakers, and radio experts who intercepted the travel plans of the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto, leading to his ambush and death. Australian ...

The stranger-than-fiction story of the ingenious creation and loss of an artificially intelligent android of science-fiction writer Philip K. DickIn late January 2006, a young robotocist on the way to Google headquarters lost an overnight bag on a flight somewhere between Dallas and Las Vegas. In it was a fully functional head of the android replica of Philip K. Dick, cult science-fiction writer and counterculture guru. It has never been recovered.In a story ...

David Dufty goes back to the records to uncover the real story of the police officers who pursued the Kelly Gang. This pacey account of the capture of the Kelly Gang reads like a detective story.He lurched through the gun smoke, his head encased in an iron helmet, and started shooting. To the weary police in the cordon around the Glenrowan hotel, he appeared like a monster, or a creature from hell.For over a century, the Ned Kelly legend has grown and grown...

'A lively and readable account' Spectator'A fine book ... well-written and well-researched' Washington TimesIn less than six hours in August 1942, nearly 1,000 British, Canadian and American commandos died in the French port of Dieppe in an operation that for decades seemed to have no real purpose. Was it a dry-run for D-Day, or perhaps a gesture by the Allies to placate Stalin's impatience for a second front in th...

The inspiration for a major two-part ABC documentary, KOKODA is set to win over a whole new audience'Never in my life ... had I seen soldiers who looked so shocked and so tired and so utterly weary as those men' Brigadier John Rogers, Australia's Director of Military Intelligence, 1942Now a major two-part ABC documentary series produced with Screen Australia's Making History, Paul Ham's KOKODA is the bestselling history of the crucial battles in Papua New Guinea that saved Australia...

The definitive behind-the-scenes history of the dawn of video games and their rise into a multibillion-dollar business“For industry insiders and game players alike, this book is a must-have.”—Mark Turmell, designer for Midway Games and creator of NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, and WrestleManiaWith all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade, volume 1 of The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ...

The complete story of how the German Enigma codes were broken. Perfect for fans of THE IMITATION GAME, the new film on Alan Turing's Enigma code, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.Breaking the German Enigma codes was not only about brilliant mathematicians and professors at Bletchley Park. There is another aspect of the story which it is only now possible to tell. It takes in the exploits of spies, naval officers and ordinary British seamen who risked, and in some case...

More American children recognize Super Mario, the hero of one of Nintendo’s video games, than Mickey Mouse. The Japanese company has come to earn more money than the big three computer giants or all Hollywood movie studios combined. Now Sheff tells of the Nintendo invasion–a tale of innovation and cutthroat tactics.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, a new breed of reporters joined the ranks of war correspondents - and through the reach and power of radio Australians back home heard their voices and their stories shaped from the sounds of battle, out of the white noise of the ether.Australian forces defended our long shoreline against the threat of invasion and more than 500,000 Australians went into battle overseas. They fought on the dusty soil of the Middle East and North Africa, in ...