AustLit

'The Dam Busters, The Great Escape and Reach for the Sky were all written by Paul Brickhill, an Australian hero of WWII. 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 25th anniversary of his death.'

'It was 1956 and the writer from Sydney's lower North Shore had every reason to feel blessed. Former journalist Paul Brickhill was the highest-earning author in the UK and two of his bestselling books – The Dam Busters and Reach for the Sky – had recently been made into blockbuster films. Another of his books – inspired by his experiences as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 3 in Germany during the Second World War – was attracting Hollywood interest. That book was The Great Escape.'

'Yet, life for the enigmatic Brickhill was never simple. He was beset with mental-health issues and his marriage to model Margot Slater was tempestuous. He struggled with alcohol and writer's block too, as his success – and all that accompanied it – threatened to overwhelm him. ' (Source: Random House Books website)

'When Sergeant Ben Fulton's family joins him on a cruise ship holiday, Ben, Josh, Maddie and Nan travel in luxury among the islands of the Caribbean while Caesar is in quarantine.

'But a gang who have broken out of a Cuban prison have other ideas. They hijack the massive ship and hold its three thousand passengers to ransom.

'With passengers of all nationalities in danger, only the United Nations can step in to help. Ben's best friend, Charlie, and the rest of the GRRR team assemble. Charlie will need super-sniffing explosive detection dog Caesar with him as he parachutes in to sneak aboard the ship.

'Will Caesar and Ben be reunited in time to find the hidden explosive devices that threaten the ship? Can Operation Black Shark capture the modern-day pirates before it's too late?' (Publication summary)

'Explosive detection dog Caesar is in Texas with his handler, Ben, to train the local police. When a bomb detonates nearby and Caesar sniffs out a second bomb at the scene, he attracts the wrong kind of attention.

'Mexican crime lord Carlos Marron, known as the Green Parrot, decides that the world-famous labrador can protect him from the kind of bomb attack that targeted his brother. Carlos orders his subordinates to dognap Caesar - and when Ben leaves Caesar in quarantine, the gang swoops.

'Now, Ben, Charlie and the GRRR team have to locate and rescue Caesar in Mexico, in the middle of a deadly crime cartel war.' (Publication summary)

'This dog never forgets a friend. When their friend Lucky is kidnapped by elephant poachers in Tanzania, the Global Rapid Reaction Responders team is called in to find him. Caesar the super-sniffing war dog is sent with Ben and Charlie on the mission. After a death-defying parachute jump into the ocean, they start gathering clues. The poachers were last seen stealing village children to become soldiers for their army and they have forced Lucky to write a ransom letter. If the team can trace the letter, and work out which way the rebels went, they might be on the right track. Saving Lucky from the heavily armed poachers is their top priority, but the GRRR team is prepared to do whatever they can to stop the cruel trade in elephant tusks and to free boy soldiers. Can Caesar's nose locate the illegal cargo and trace and rescue a good friend before it's too late? A battle on the African plain is about to erupt.' (Publication summary)

'Frankie and Taz didn't think about killing, or dying, when they lied about their age to join the Australian army. They thought the war was going to be a big adventure. Now they're marching to the front.

Richard is another sixteen-year-old heading to war. He's inside the massive German tank Mephisto as it powers towards the battle lines at Villers-Bretonneux, France.

The other side have their tanks ready too. War is about to change forever . . .

Based on true stories of the world's first tank-versus-tank battle and what it was like to be an underage soldier in World War I, Tank Boys follows Frankie, Taz and Richard's footsteps as they take part in what will become one of the decisive battles of the war.' (publisher's blurb)

'Sir Henry Parkes: Father of Federation, Premier of NSW, Statesman, Visionary, Political Leader, Poet, Humanist

'May 27, 2015 brings the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Henry Parkes. After he died, the London Times described him as 'a colonial colossus.'

'Henry Parkes received little schooling and worked on a rope-walk, breaking stones, as an ivory and bone turner, ironmonger, labourer and on the wharves before trying business life and ultimately politics. He and his first wife travelled to Australia on an assisted passage. Parkes steadily educated himself, reading voraciously and widely, including all the great poets.

'There has never been anyone else like Sir Henry Parkes in Australian public life. Not only was he the father of federation. His friends included Thomas Carlyle, fellow poet Lord Tennyson and British Prime Minister Gladstone. He convinced Florence Nightingale to send trained nurses to Australia. He conceived the international rabbit competition which led to the Pasteur affair and put Australia at the forefront of microbiology. He encouraged talented men to enter politics. Yet he shunned the limelight, rarely attending social functions.

'Whenever he received begging letters, (which he did, daily), Parkes always wrote back enclosing money. No wonder he went bankrupt three times! Yet he was Premier of NSW 5 times, leaving its finances well in the black every time. He married three times, the last time to a 23-year-old beauty. Clearly, Parkes loved women, and they loved him. He encouraged women to attend political meetings, even though they didn't have the vote. NSW Parliament House dining room was managed by a husband and wife; when the husband died, Parliament wanted to fire his widow, but Parkes stood up for her, saying she was perfectly capable of managing the dining room on her own, which she did for years to come.

'But not everyone loved Sir Henry; he had a long-running feud with poet Henry Lawson's mother after Parkes wouldn't give young Lawson the help she demanded and he constantly wrestled with political aspirants chasing his seat.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Mistaken identity haunted Joseph Windred. It saw him wrongly convicted on two continents and almost cost him his life. But every time fate knocked him down, Joe got up, and came back stronger. His fighting spirit would make him a hero, and see him strike it rich.

'Little did the people of Orange NSW know when they twice elected Joseph Windred their mayor that this upstanding Windsor-born businessman, colonial hero and founder of their local jockey club had, in chains, helped build the San Quentin Penitentiary in San Francisco during the California gold rush, only to make a thrilling escape back to Australia. And that, technically, Joe was still a fugitive from American justice. There was a lot about Joe people didn't know.

'In an amazing life, Joe also overcame physical disability to become a champion boxer, chased down a bushranger on his racehorse, saved the lives of children on a runaway dray, almost drowned trying to save a woman in a flooded creek, and struck gold near Bathurst.

'Joe Windred's courage in the face of repeated, extraordinary and life-changing adversity marks him as one of the most inspiring figures in the history of ordinary Australians.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This is the true story of three Australian soldiers, the Searle brothers. One brother was killed at Gallipoli, another on the Western Front. One came home a decorated hero.

'Viv, a gifted poet who was planning to be a clergyman before the war, became a deadly efficient sniper. Ray shot himself and was charged with desertion. Ned was a true Australian larrikin, up for anything, and the black sheep of the family.

'The Searle boys had to crack hardy, as they fought in one grueling campaign after another - from the first wave of the Gallipoli landings to Lone Pine, from Ypres to Messines and Hill 60 in Flanders, to bloody Somme battles at Mouquet Farm, Bullecourt, and Hamel, with their brothers and mates falling all around them.

'Back home in an Australian country town, their mother, father, sisters and remaining brother also had to crack hardy, as the bad news from the front just kept coming, and coming.

'Told from the heart by the Searle brothers' great-nephew, award-winning author Stephen Dando-Collins using the letters and journals of the Searle brothers and remembrances of other family members, Crack Hardy is a compelling book that defines Australia and Australians during the making of our nation on the far-flung battlefields of the First World War.' (From the publisher's website.)

'It's the worst birthday 12-year-old computer genius Zac can imagine. No voice synthesizer for his computer and he is given the stupidest present ever, a dog. Then he realizes his dog is computer literate. And his dad discovers a scam at the bank where he works. A computer whizz is needed.' (Publication summary)