An "engrossing" memoir of a Royal Air Force doctor's World War II experiences, from surviving Dunkirk to witnessing Nagasaki ( The Irish Times).As an RAF medical officer, Aidan MacCarthy served in France, survived Dunkirk, and was interned by the Japanese in Java, where his ingenuity helped his fellow prisoners through awful conditions. While en route to Japan in 1944, his ship was torpedoed, sending him into the Pacific. Miraculously, MacCarthy was rescue...

Pete McCarthy established one cardinal rule of travel in hisbestselling debut, McCarthy's Bar: "Never pass a bar withyour name on it." In this equally wry and insightful follow-up,his characteristic good humor, curiosity, and thirst for adventuretake him on a fantastic jaunt around the world in search of hisIrish roots -- from Morocco, where he tracks down the unlikelychief of the McCarthy clan, to New York, and finally to remote Mc-Carthy, Alaska. The Road to McCa...

A British author explores western Ireland—one eponymous pub at a time—in this "unfailingly sharp, good-humored, and offbeat" travelogue ( Kirkus Reviews).Despite the many exotic places Peter McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere else can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother's homeland. In McCarthy's Bar, his journey begins in Cork and continues along the west coast to Donegal in the north. Traveling through spectacular landscapes...

Rupert Everett's first memoir - Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins - was an international bestseller and an instant classic on publication in 2006. Reviewers compared him to Evelyn Waugh, David Niven, Noel Coward and Lord Byron. But Rupert Everett is - of course - one of a kind.Mischievous, touching and nothing less than brilliant, this new memoir is filled with stories, from childhood to the present. Astonishing encounters; tragedy and comedy; vivid portraits of friends a...

An impressionistic and exuberant memoir by Australia's best-loved artist.Ken Done has an extraordinary place in the hearts of Australians - we've all worn or decorated our homes with his artwork. His vivid, optimistic images are part of our collective consciousness and have helped define us to the world. But what do we know about the man behind the brush?A dreamy country kid-turned-art student, Ken took off overseas for a Mad Men-esque advertising career before an epiphany a...

At times funny, poignant, and heartbreaking, Midlife Irish draws on the universal themes of love, loss, and laughter that have kept the Irish both miserable and happy--often at the same time--throughout the years.If Bill Bryson set off for Ireland to discover his roots, then you'd have Midlife Irish--an illuminating, entertaining, and heartwarming look at one man's search for where--and who--he came from. Irish-American. What does this vague term r...

Peopled by many of the legends of the Australian outback, this is the extraordinary true story of how one ordinary woman grew up to champion Australia's outback heritage.Jane Grieve was born and raised on a farm on the Darling Downs in Queensland. She grew up with the wind in her hair and the rich black Darling Downs soil between her barefoot toes, her vivid imagination captivated by the tales of her Colonial forebears and the romantic notion of Australia's outback...

Country folk have their own way of doing things and their own sense of humour too. They are naturally wary of men in suits and university types, and such people have to be put to the test before they can be accepted. They are not too keen on new-fangled ways of doing things either; a meal of mountain oysters is one thing, but washed down with a glass of bull’s semen? What’s the world coming to? 'Once Upon A Cowpat' is a hugely enjoyable collection of rural yarns, with subjects ranging from...

From bestselling author William McInnes, a book about the languid, unending holidays of summer; it's about going away and staying at home, about sunburn, seagulls, family and friends.Remember those long, languid holidays when the only decisions to be made were what to pack in the Esky and who should get the front seat on the drive to the beach?Let William McInnes reignite your nostalgia for holidays past, and give you a taste of the boundless opportunities ...

Retirement can be murder!The adventures of a former Sydney detective from 21 Division who, in his prime, collared some of the most murderous criminals in Australian history yet, on retiring to the Gold Coast in Queensland, along with half of the criminal milieu he once pursued, is shot, king-hit, tortured, and thrown from buildings in his relentless pursuit of justice.With his trademark wit, warmth and humour, Matthew Condon takes us on a crazy ride - in bo...

'Cummins has a cult hero notoriety not seen with any other Australian sport star in the last 25 years' - Fox SportsHe's put pen to paper and has been busier than a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad - Nick Cummins is writing his opus, his tome - his first book. Packed with Nick's sensational sayings, ripper yarns and pure Aussie wisdom, TALES OF THE HONEY BADGER is a charming collection of short stories celebrating the importance of family, mates, rugby and getting out amongst it (i.e...

Where do you call home?Performer Jane Clifton had a classic army brat upbringing, constantly on the move as the family followed the postings of her English officer father from Gibraltar to England, Germany to Malaysia and eventually to Australia. Always the new kid in town, Jane became adept at fitting in anywhere.As an adult, living in the fast-moving worlds of anti-war demos, women's lib, experimental theatre, rock 'n' roll, and TV, she kept up the...