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Criminal That I Am
By Jennifer Ridha. 2015
A candid memoir from a talented young lawyer who becomes romantically entangled with the convicted drug felon she represents--Cameron Douglas,…
son of film actor Michael Douglas--and who soon makes the mistake of her life. Or does she?Criminal That I Am is a defense attorney's account of the criminal justice system as seen through the prism of a particular case: her own. Jennifer Ridha is enlisted to defend Cameron Douglas in a federal drug trafficking case while he is incarcerated in a maximum-security prison under difficult, even dangerous, conditions. As media scrutiny and the pressures of Cameron's case mount and as Jennifer becomes increasingly transfixed by her charismatic but troubled client, he asks her to do the unthinkable: commit a crime. In a decision inexplicable even to herself, guided only by her indignation and infatuation, she agrees. When her transgression is discovered, her criminal case begins, and her life as she knows it is over. A page-turning trip through professional self-destruction, tabloid scandal, and self-reckoning, Criminal That I Am is about the choices one woman makes: how they define her, how she lives with them, and, ultimately, how she is transformed by them. Recounted with brutal introspection and self-deprecating humor, this strange and twisted love story contemplates what we make of crime and punishment...and what it makes of us.The Battle of Normandy 1944: 1944 The Final Verdict (Sven Hassel War Classics)
By Robin Neillands. 2003
A fresh and incisive examination of one of the Second World War's crucial campaigns, the battle for Normandy in the…
months after D-Day.What happened to the Allied armies in Normandy in the months after D-Day, 1944? Why, after the initial success of the landings, did their advance stall a few miles inland from the beaches? Why did the British take so long to capture Caen? Why did the US infantry struggle so much in the bocage south of Omaha beach? Who was right about the conduct of the land campaign - Eisenhower or Montgomery? How did the Germans, deprived of air support, manage to hold off such a massive Allied force for more than two months? And if Enigma was allowing the Allies to read German battleplans, why did things go wrong as often as they did?THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY re-examines the demands and difficulties of the campaign and sheds new light on both with the aid of accounts from veterans on both sides. (Oral history forms a large part of the book.) It also analyses in detail the plans and performance of the commanders involved: Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, Montgomery, Crerar and, of course, Rommel. Controversial and at times catastrophic, the Battle of Normandy was the last great set-piece battle in history and is long overdue for reassessment.Bomber Boys: The Raf Offensive Of 1943 (Wn Military Ser.)
By Kevin Wilson. 2005
A gripping account of the everyday heroism of British bomber crews in 1943 - the year when Bomber Command believed…
it could win WWII by bombing alone.In 1943 the RAF began a bombing campaign against Germany, the like of which had never before been seen. Over the next twelve months, tens of thousands of aircrews flew across the North Sea to drop their bombs on German cities. They were opposed not only by the full force of the Luftwaffe, but by a nightmare of flak, treacherously icy conditions, and constant mechanical malfunction. Most of these crews never finished their tour of operations but were either shot down and killed, or taken prisoner by an increasingly hostile enemy.This is the story of the everyday heroism of British bomber crews in the days when it was widely believed that the Allies could win the Second World War by bombing alone. Kevin Wilson has interviewed hundreds of former airmen about what their lives were like in 1943: the stomach-churning tension of flying repeatedly over hostile territory, the terror at being shot down or captured, and the peculiar mixture of guilt and pride at unleashing such devastation on Germany.Life of Charlotte Bronte
By Elizabeth Gaskell. 2013
Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) is a pioneering biography of one great Victorian woman novelist by another.…
Gaskell was a friend of Charlotte Brontë, and, having been invited to write the official life, determined both to tell the truth and to honour her friend. She contacted those who had known Charlotte and travelled extensively in England and Belgium to gather material. She wrote from a vivid accumulation of letters, interviews, and observation, establishing the details of Charlotte's life and recreating her background. Through an often difficult and demanding process, Gaskell created a vital sense of a life hidden from the world. This edition is based on the Third Edition of 1857, revised by Gaskell. It has been collated with the manuscript, and the previous two editions, as well as with Charlotte Brontë's letters, and thus offers fuller information about the process of composition than any previous edition.Breakup: The End of a Love Story
By Catherine Texier. 1998
I will never forgive you.I will never make love with you again.I do not love you anymore.Breakup is the erotically…
charged chronicle of the tempestuous final months of an eighteen-year romantic and literary partnership, self-destructing in the aftermath of the ultimate betrayal. Fearlessly and courageously, Texier chronicles the end of that love as it is wrecked by infidelity and deceit in a literary tour de force reminiscent by turns of Marguerite Duras and Henry Miller.Texier writes in harrowing detail about the powerful sexual relationship she shared with her husband even during their breakup, how sex between them became a substitute for real intimacy, and how the fabric of a marriage (a shared cup of café au lait on a yellow table every morning, the memories of giving birth to two glorious daughters, of coediting their own literary magazine) is brutally dissolved.Breakup is unsentimental and unflinching, a journal of love's exquisite torture. Every emotion, including rage, disgust, self-pity, hatred, sympathy, and jealousy, is mined. Heartbreaking, too, is the effect of the breakup on Texier's two children who, sometimes caught in the crossfire of their parents' turmoil, are trapped as the relationship spirals out of control and their once-secure home becomes a battlefield.Ultimately, Breakup is about the risks one great passion involves. It is a journey of the heart in all its wild beating; a courageous diary of a soul laid bare, and the redemptive power of love.Unbroken
By Laura Hillenbrand. 2010
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only…
a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit.No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story Of Three P. O. W's Escape To Adventure
By Felice Benuzzi. 2016
In the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the…
inmates of POW Camp 354. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner realizes he can bear it no longer.When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea--an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea.Not many people would break out of a POW camp and trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meager rations, and a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef as their most accurate guide. Fewer still would break back into the camp on their return.This is the remarkable story of three such men--a powerful testament to the human spirit of rebellion and adventure--reissued in a deluxe edition featuring Benuzzi's own watercolor paintings of the expedition and a final chapter that has never before appeared in English.Forged From Silver Dollar
By Li Feng. 2015
One family's epic tale of survival in tumultuous twentieth-century China.Li Feng grew up in Mao's communist China with her mother's…
motto burning in her ears - Success demands two things: unconditional sacrifice and absolute mental focus. Finally breaking free of her mother's overbearing clutches and fleeing to Sydney as an adult, Li struggled to make sense of her own lost childhood by piecing together her family's history.What she found was a heartbreaking tale of love and loss that echoed across four generations of women - from Silver Dollar, who fought to regain her dignity and change her destiny after being sold into a loveless marriage at the age of 13; to Ming Xiu, who was forced to make a choice no mother should ever have to make following the execution of her husband; to Li's mother Rong, who grew up as an outcast on the periphery of society but never gave up hope of a better life for herself and for her daughters.Despite economic and political upheaval, these women battled to offer their children a better future through sheer determination in the face of unimaginable adversity. FORGED FROM SILVER DOLLAR is an inspiring true story about Modern China, iron will and the strength of a mother's love.The House of Lies: A shocking true story of secrets, abuse, murder - and surviving it all
By Renee Mcbryde. 2017
This compelling memoir of family secrets, murder, sexual assault and domestic violence is also the gripping story of Renee's constant…
struggle to accept the truth and her true identity, and, ultimately, to forge a life on her own terms.From the outside, Renee McBryde had a fairly typical childhood - school, working mum, swimming lessons with loving grandparents. But waiting for her was a secret so awful that it would rock her to the core.Renee's mother was a teenage runaway who found herself pregnant and alone when Renee's father was jailed for killing two men. When Renee discovered the truth, she knew her life would never be the same again. She was a murderer's daughter - but that made her determined to escape the past.This is her sometimes shocking, often moving, inspirational true story of terrible secrets and tragic lies, and a life of abuse, suffering and survival.Commandos: Heroic and Deadly ANZAC Raids in World War II
By Frank Walker. 2015
Amazing revelations and extraordinary exploits of Australia's elite secret warriors.There was something unique about Australians and New Zealanders in war…
that prompted World War II Allied commanders to turn to ANZAC soldiers, sailors and airmen to carry out the most dangerous and virtually impossible missions behind enemy lines.Paddling canoes 4,000 kilometres to attack enemy ships in Singapore; lightning raids on Rommel's forces in the deserts of North Africa. Flying bombers at tree-top level deep into Nazi Germany to destroy vital targets; rescuing sultans and future US presidents from under the noses of the Japanese and playing crucial roles in the greatest commando raid of the war at St Nazaire - the Aussies and Kiwis were there.The special forces showed incredible bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. They were determined to complete their missions. Often alone and far behind enemy lines,they demonstrated resourcefulness, spirit and a humanity that inspired others to follow them.Frank Walker, author of bestselling books on the Vietnam War and the British atomic tests in Australia, brings to life the amazing exploits and extraordinary stories of this select band of heroes..Back on Top: Confessions of a High-Class Madam
By Samantha X. 2017
We left Samantha X confused at the end of HOOKED - should she stay escorting or hang up her high…
heels? In this fascinating, compelling sequel we see Samantha grow in to her new role as boss of her escort agency Samantha X Angels (and her male escort agency too), how she deals with the girls and boys, falling in love with Mr Big (while still managing to sneak in a few clients), her journey with sobriety ... and much, much more!BACK ON TOP is fast-paced and occasionally outrageous, told with the flair readers loved in HOOKED. Samantha X does not hold back when it comes men, love, sex - and getting herself back on top.A compelling account of Australia's intelligence organisations and special forces - from the early days of the commandos during World…
War II through to the SAS of today and the cyber wars of the future. From the co-author of SAS Sniper.Warrior Elite is a unique and compelling account of Australia's special forces and intelligence operations - ranging from the early special forces of World War II to the establishment and development of the SAS and Commando Regiments as the elite fighters of today, and from the Australian Security Intelligence Service to the Australian Signals Directorate and ASIO. It is an authoritative, gripping and thoroughly up-to-date account of both the history and current state of our special forces and intelligence bodies - and gives a unique glimpse into the warfare of the future. Our future.Robert Macklin has conducted dozens of exclusive interviews and uncovered incredible, daring and sometimes heartbreaking stories of the elite troops that guard our nation and engage in secret operations around the world. He has had significant cooperation from numerous sources within the special forces and the various intelligence agencies.Both thoroughly researched and colourfully written, Warrior Elite will attract the reader of action memoirs as well as those interested in broader military history and espionage.Australian Tragic: Gripping Tales From the Dark Side of Our History
By Jack Marx. 2009
A compelling collection of tales from Australia's dark heart - of catastrophe and misfortune, intrigue and passion, betrayal and tragedy.AUSTRALIAN…
TRAGIC ranges across our past and our present: the heartbreaking story of the fire at Luna Park; the unstoppable opportunist who snatched innocent men and women from Palm Island to be part of P. T. Barnum's 'Greatest Show on Earth'; a world-class boxer who lost his battle with alcohol and ended up in an unmarked American grave; a man who heroically survived a war to find himself crushed and defeated by events much closer to home; and a new story - of an echo from Ned Kelly at Stringybark Creek, in our own time ... Heartbreaking and shocking, gothic and weird, these fascinating stories are all true, and told to remind us of the Australia we don't know, the one that simmers with love and hate, of hopes raised and futures dashed, unheralded and unnoticed . . . until now.44 Days: 75 Squadron and the Fight for Australia
By Michael Veitch. 2016
The epic World War II story of Australia's 75 Squadron - and the 44 days when these brave and barely…
trained pilots fought alone against the Japanese.In March and April 1942, RAAF 75 Squadron bravely defended Port Moresby for 44 days when Australia truly stood alone against the Japanese. This group of raw young recruits scrambled ceaselessly in their Kittyhawk fighters to an extraordinary and heroic battle, the story of which has been left largely untold.The recruits had almost nothing going for them against the Japanese war machine, except for one extraordinary leader named John Jackson, a balding, tubby Queenslander - at 35 possibly the oldest fighter pilot in the world - who said little, led from the front, and who had absolutely no sense of physical fear.Time and time again this brave group were hurled into battle, against all odds and logic, and succeeded in mauling a far superior enemy - whilst also fighting against the air force hierarchy. After relentless attack, the squadron was almost wiped out by the time relief came, having succeeded in their mission - but also paying a terrible price.Michael Veitch, actor, presenter and critically acclaimed author, brings to life the incredible exploits and tragic sacrifices of this courageous squadron of Australian heroes.Two Decades Naked: A true story of dancing, dreams and desire
By Leigh Hopkinson. 2016
For fans of Hooked by Samantha X and In My Skin by Kate Holden. Leigh Hopkinson was the least likely…
person to become a stripper but after spending two decades naked, she realised it was her career - and her life.When Leigh Hopkinson was a university student in Christchurch she worked at a succession of low-paying jobs that paid the rent and fit in around her degree. None of them fit so well, however, as stripping. She figured it couldn't be that difficult - she was just going to dance on stage in front of a bunch of strangers. She'd show them a bit of skin, but the gig wasn't going to last that long. Or so she imagined.While stripping was harder than Leigh thought it would be, she hadn't counted on it being so exhilarating - or lucrative. So when she moved to Melbourne and needed to make a living, the lure of her old job was strong. The world of the strip club had become familiar, even reassuring, though some of the people she met during the course of her job didn't exactly give her faith in the future of humanity.Over the course of Leigh's career, she learnt a lot about other people and even more about herself, and the result is a story that delves into a world that not everyone visits but everyone finds fascinating.Kokoda Front Line
By Neil McDonald. 2012
Damien Parer was without doubt Australia?s greatest war photographer. He helped create the Anzac legend ? and many, many of…
our iconic war images are his photographs. He served his apprenticeship as a stills photographer on the famous Chauvel film, 'Forty Thousand Horsemen', and was appointed Official Photographer covering the Australian fighting in the early days of World War II in Greece and Syria, and Tobruk. His most famous documentary is 'Kokoda Front Line!' , made during the darkest days of the campaign in mid-1942 (it went on to win Australia?s first Academy Award). His photographs and films brought the war home to Australians ? and are now an integral part of our military history. He died in action ? shot by Japanese machine gun fire, as he filmed an American advance on Peleliu. Originally published as WAR CAMERAMAN: THE STORY OF DAMIEN PARER, and later in an expanded form as DAMIEN PARER'S WAR, this colourful and authoritative story of a great Australian includes many of his most iconic photographs.'This account . . . is breathtaking in its scope and riveting in its research' - Sydney Morning HeraldThe gripping…
story of a small force of Australian Special Forces commandos that launched relentless hit and run raids on far superior Japanese forces in East Timor for most of 1942.These Australians were the men of the 2/2nd Australian Independent Company - a special commando unit. Initially stranded without radio contact to Australia, the Japanese declared these bearded warriors `outlaws? and warned they would be executed immediately if captured. The Australians drawn mainly from the bush, were chosen for their ability to operate independently and survive in hostile territory. As film-maker Damien Parer said after visiting in Timor in late 1942, `these men are writing an epic of guerrilla warfare?.Expertly researched by Paul Cleary, who is fluent in Tetum, the main language of the indigenous group of East Timor, it also contains insightful black and white photos.'A cracker of a read' - The Age'Paul Cleary has brought to life one of the great success stories of World War II' - Daily TelegraphThe Changi Brownlow
By Roland Perry. 2010
This is the moving, powerful and surprising story of a group of Australian POWs who organise an Australian Rules Football…
competition under the worst conditions imaginable - inside Changi prison.After Singapore falls to the Japanese early in 1942, 70 000 prisoners including 15 000 Australians, are held as POWs at the notorious Changi prison, Singapore. To amuse themselves and fellow inmates, a group of sportsmen led by the indefatigable and popular `Chicken? Smallhorn, created an Australian Football League, complete with tribunal, selection panel, umpires and coaches. The final game of the one and only season was between `Victoria? and the `Rest of Australia?, which attracted 10 000 spectators, and a unique Brownlow Medal was awarded in this unlikely setting under the curious gaze of Japanese prison guards.Meet the main characters behind this spectacle: Peter Chitty, the farm hand from Snowy River country with unfathomable physical and mental fortitude, and one of eight in his immediate family who volunteered to fight and serve in WW2; `Chicken? Smallhorn, the Brownlow-medal winning little man with the huge heart; and `Weary? Dunlop, the courageous doctor, who cares for the POWs as they endure malnutrition, disease and often inhuman treatment.Changi Brownlow is a story of courage and the invincibility of the human spirit, and highlights not only the Australian love of sport, but its power to offer consolation in times of extreme hardship.See Naples and Die
By Penelope Green. 2007
The second book in a much loved Italian travel memoir trilogy which also includes the delightful When in Rome and…
Girl by Sea.After three years living and working in Italy, Australian journalist Penelope Green needs a reason to stick around - true love or gainful employment.When a job comes up in Naples - crime capital of Italy, home of pizza and the Camorra, and crouched at the foot of a volcano - Penny launches herself into the unknown.With her innate curiosity and eye for detail, Penny prises Naples open to show us the real city, in all its splendour... and all its depravity. She uncovers a chaotic metropolis when crime and poverty blur with abundant natural beauty, and where the shadow of Mount Vesuvius is a daily reminder that life must be lived for the moment.And when Penny meets a bass player in a local band, she thinks she might have found that other reason to stick around.'This is a bewitching, true tale of a tantalising city. Magnifico!' - Marie Claire'frank, funny and honest' - Notebook'Her down to earth tone and genuine curiosity make for an interesting and insightful read' - Sun-HeraldAuthor BiographyPenelope Green was born in Sydney and worked as a print journalist around Australia for a decade before moving to Rome in 2002. Her first book, When in Rome, recounts her early experiences in the Eternal City. In 2005 she moved to Naples to work for ANSAmed, a Mediterranean news service. She found an apartment in the city's colourful Spanish Quarter, worked hard at mastering the Neapolitan dialect, and writing her second travel memoir, See Naples and Die. Girl by Sea completes Penny's Italian experience as she moves to the idyllic island of Procida, across the bay from Capri, with her Italian partner, Alfonso. The couple have now returned to Australia, where they are making a new life for themselves back in the Southern hemisphere. For more information visit penelopegreen.com.auGirl By Sea: Love, Life and Food on an Italian Island
By Penelope Green. 2009
The conclusion to Penelope Green's bestselling trilogy about her life in Italy that includes When in Rome and See Naples…
and DieFrom her rooftop terrace, Penelope looks out across the sparkling waters of the Bay of Naples, and into a garden of lemon trees and magnolias. Has her Italian dream come true? Imagine catching a ferry home and stepping onto a waterfront lined with multicoloured buildings, busy with fishing boats and couples strolling to their favourite café. For Penny and her Italian love Alfonso, the idyllic island of Procida can offer the life they are looking for. But first Penny has to find a way into its small community. One thing she has in common with the locals is a love of food, so she sets herself a goal - to master the Procidan cuisine and become more than just a visitor. Across kitchen tables, in bustling cafés, and over long lunches under vine-covered pergolas, Penny learns the art of Italian cooking, builds friendships, and discovers the rhythms and secrets of island life. 'It?s a lovely chronicle of the joys and pitfalls of moving to a small community... A charming concoction of love, food and life ? with recipes!' - The Australian Women?s Weekly'With her observant eye for detail, young Sydney-born journalist Penelope Green's account of her time living on the beautiful Italian island of Procida with her partner, Alfonso, is an endearing insight into a small community where life, love and food reign supreme' - Sunday Telegraph'interspersed with mouthwatering recipes and Procida is explored from a historical, cultural, architectural, social and heart-on-the-sleeve personal perspective. Delivered with a light and breezy tone, it's easy to consume' - Courier MailAuthor BiographyPenelope Green was born in Sydney and worked as a print journalist around Australia for a decade before moving to Rome in 2002. Her first book, When in Rome, recounts her early experiences in the Eternal City. In 2005 she moved to Naples to work for ANSAmed, a Mediterranean news service. She found an apartment in the city's colourful Spanish Quarter, worked hard at mastering the Neapolitan dialect, and writing her second travel memoir, See Naples and Die. Girl by Sea completes Penny's Italian experience as she moves to the idyllic island of Procida, across the bay from Capri, with her Italian partner, Alfonso. The couple have now returned to Australia, where they are making a new life for themselves back in the Southern hemisphere. For more information visit penelopegreen.com.au