Murder from an insider's perspective. Matt Murphy—a former criminal prosecutor and current ABC News legal contributor—discusses new and well-known cases from his career, and how they strained his personal life.Part taxonomy of murder, part prosecutor's handbook, and part personal memoir, The Book of Murder goes through a dozen cases and his recollections of his twenty-six years in the Orange County DA's office (seventeen in the Homicide Unit). Refreshingly ...

Australia and its formation - through the distorted view of a rum bottle.Could the Rum Rebellion have been averted if Major Johnston wasn't hungover?Would the Eureka Stockade have been different if the rebels weren't pissed?How were prisoners to get drunk if Macquarie closed the only pub in the gaol?And why should sailors under fourteen be deprived of their sixteen shots of rum per day?These are just some of the questions raised in M...

Australia and its formation - through the distorted view of a rum bottle.Could the Rum Rebellion have been averted if Major Johnston wasn't hungover?Would the Eureka Stockade have been different if the rebels weren't pissed?How were prisoners to get drunk if Macquarie closed the only pub in the gaol?And why should sailors under fourteen be deprived of their sixteen shots of rum per day?These are just some of the questions raised in M...

The unofficial history of Australia's national day since the first contentious one, thereby offering 237 other reasons for a day off.'The nation is grateful. This is an indispensable book. It will grace the bookshelves of any trivia lover and also people who want to deep dive into the true nature of this country' David MarrLike it or not, 26 January in Australia has become a significant day of both celebration and mourning.Most coun...

The unofficial history of Australia's national day since the first contentious one, thereby offering 237 other reasons for a day off.'The nation is grateful. This is an indispensable book. It will grace the bookshelves of any trivia lover and also people who want to deep dive into the true nature of this country' David MarrLike it or not, 26 January in Australia has become a significant day of both celebration and mourning.Most coun...

In 1794 and 1799 Superintendent of Convicts Nicholas Devine was granted 210 acres on the edge of the current CBD of Sydney. After the demise of Governor Bligh (to whom he was closely allied) Devine reluctantly retired to his estate where, as an old man living alone, he was constantly beaten and robbed.An Irish convict named Bernard Rochford befriended the old man in 1825 and upon his death in 1830 forged a Will and seized control of the estate and proceeded to subdivide it and sell...

'Impostor ', 'greedy' and 'incompetent' - Edmund Hammond Hargraves was beloved by few and reviled by many more.Ask google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get 'Edward Hammond Hargraves'. Hargraves has for decades (and decades) received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it?What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him where to look when he returned to ...

Like it or not, 26 January in Australia has become a significant day of both celebration and mourning. Most countries, if not all, have a national day. The reasons to celebrate a national day include independence from a colonial power, the signing of a treaty, or an act by a monarch, political leader or patron saint. Australia is the only country whose national day celebrates the colonisation of an already occupied territory. Controversially, it continues to do this despite most of its cit...

Like it or not, 26 January in Australia has become a significant day of both celebration and mourning. Most countries, if not all, have a national day. The reasons to celebrate a national day include independence from a colonial power, the signing of a treaty, or an act by a monarch, political leader or patron saint. Australia is the only country whose national day celebrates the colonisation of an already occupied territory. Controversially, it continues to do this despite most of its cit...

Ask Google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get 'Edward Hammond Hargraves'. Hargraves has for decades received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it? What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him where to look when he returned home to Australia? What about the guys who led him to where they'd heard gold had been found before? What about the pioneers whose discoveries had been documented years ...

Ask Google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get 'Edward Hammond Hargraves'. Hargraves has for decades received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it? What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him where to look when he returned home to Australia? What about the guys who led him to where they'd heard gold had been found before? What about the pioneers whose discoveries had been documented years ...

The sensational true tale that inspired the major motion picture Belle starring Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, Penelope Wilton, and Matthew Goode—a stunning story of the first mixed-race girl introduced to high society England and raised as a lady.The illegitimate daughter of a captain in the Royal Navy and an enslaved African woman, Dido Belle was sent to live with her great-uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, one of the most powerful men of the time a...