Australia & Oceania Audiobooks | History

The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women

"The convict women who built a continent . . . 'A moving and fascinating story.' —Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost Historian Deborah J. Swiss tells the heartbreaking, horrifying, and ultimately triumphant story of the women exiled from the British Isles and forced into slavery and savagery—who created the most liberated society of their time. The Tin Ticket takes us to the dawn of the nineteenth century and into the lives of Agnes McMillan, whose defiance and resilience carried her to a far more dramatic rebellion; Agnes's best friend Janet Houston, who rescued her from the Glasgow wynds and was also transported to Van Diemen's Land; Ludlow Tedder, forced to choose just one of her four children to accompany her to the other side of the world; Bridget Mulligan, who gave birth to a line of powerful women stretching to the present day. It also tells the tale of Elizabeth Gurney Fry, a Quaker reformer who touched all their lives. Ultimately, it is the story of women discarded by their homeland and forgotten by history—who, by sheer force of will, become the heart and soul of a new nation."

Deborah J. Swiss (Author), Corinne Davies (Narrator)

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They'll Never Hold Me

"The life and crimes of Kevin John Simmonds, Australia's most daring fugitive. In 1959, Australians thrilled to every move made by a new criminal underdog, a Ned Kelly for the rock 'n' roll era. Kevin John Simmonds was a charismatic crook whose brazen crime spree had scored him a lengthy prison sentence. But as he was led from court, he boasted, 'They'll never hold me.' Two months later, Simmo made good on his promise, staging a daring escape from Long Bay Gaol. When his bid for freedom took a deadly turn, legendary Detective Ray 'the Gunner' Kelly took charge of the search, putting the fugitive in the crosshairs of the biggest armed manhunt in Australian history. They'll Never Hold Me is the true story of an antihero with a code of honour who captured the public's hearts and minds even as he enraged the cops and the establishment. Brilliantly researched and written by Michael Adams, of the Forgotten Australia podcast, this never-before-told tale takes us beyond the public adventures that made Simmo into Public Enemy No. 1 to reveal the haunting tragedies he was trying to outrun – and the terrible fate that even he might not escape."

Michael Adams (Author), Nathan Lang (Narrator)

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Australian Ghost Stories

"Haunting true crime stories of the supernatural and paranormal The most haunted home that world-famous ghost hunter Lorraine Warren ever stepped foot in was a three-bedroom brick home in suburban Sydney. FORGET THE HORRORS OF AMITYVILLE AND DELVE INTO AUSTRALIA'S MOST HAUNTED PLACES Australian Ghost Stories is a spine-tingling collection of true crime tales that will leave you feeling haunted long after you've turned the last page. From the ghostly apparitions that haunt historic landmarks to diabolical presences in everyday suburban houses, these are stories of ordinary Australians and their encounters with the unexplainable. This thrilling blend of true crime and supernatural encounters will leave you questioning everything you know about this world ... and the next."

James Phelps (Author), Silas Aiton (Narrator)

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Warra Warra Wai: How Indigenous Australians discovered Captain Cook, and what they tell about the co

"Shortlisted for the 2025 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Australian History Winner of the 2025 ACT Literary Award, Non-Fiction Winner of the First Nations History Award, Canberra Critics' Circle Awards 2024 For the first time, the First Nations story of Cook's arrival, and what blackfellas want everyone to know about the coming of Europeans. Both 250 years late and extremely timely, this is an account of what First Nations people saw and felt when James Cook navigated their shores in 1770. We know the European story from diaries, journals and letters. For the first time, this is the other side. Who were the people watching the Endeavour sail by? How did they understand their world and what sense did they make of this strange vision? And what was the impact of these first encounters with Europeans? The answers lie in tales passed down from 1770 and in truth-telling of the often more brutal engagements that followed. Darren Rix (a Gunditjmara-GunaiKurnai man, radio reporter and Archie Roach's nephew) and his co-author Craig Cormick travelled to all the places on the east coast that were renamed by Cook, and listened to people's stories. With their permission, these stories have been woven together with the European accounts and placed in their deeper context: the places Cook named already had names; the places he 'discovered' already had peoples and stories stretching back before time; and although Cook sailed on, the empire he represented impacted the people's lives and lands immeasurably in the years after. 'Warra Warra Wai' was the expression called to Cook and his crew when they tried to make landfall in Botany Bay. It has long been interpreted as 'Go away', but is perhaps more accurately translated as 'You are all dead spirits'. In adding the First Nations version of these first encounters to the story of Australian history, this is a book that will sit on Australian shelves alongside Cook's Journals, Dark Emu and The Fatal Shore as one of our foundational texts."

Craig Cormick, Darren Rix (Author), Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Wayne Blair (Narrator)

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Keith Murdoch’s Gallipoli Letter

"The National Library of Australia describes Keith Murdoch’s Gallipoli Letter in the following way: “The Gallipoli letter is an 8000-word private report written by journalist Keith Arthur Murdoch, with the help of British war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, after visiting the Gallipoli peninsula in September 1915. It describes the organisation and conditions of the Gallipoli campaign. It was sent to Andrew Fisher (then-Prime Minister of Australia) and Henry Herbert Asquith (then-Prime Minister of the UK). Murdoch’s twenty-eight-page letter helped to establish the idea of Gallipoli as a military disaster. Fisher sent Murdoch to Gallipoli for an honest report on the campaign. Contrary to the rules of censorship, Murdoch wrote and sent his letter without submitting it to the military censors. In the eyes of some, this was a grave betrayal of Murdoch’s role at Gallipoli. Murdoch, however, strongly defended his action on the grounds that his letter was not for publication but for the information of the prime minister. Whether or not Murdoch did the right thing in sending the letter uncensored, it had a serious impact and brought about rapid results. It can be argued that Murdoch’s letter led directly to the ending of the Gallipoli campaign, and the evacuation of British and Anzac troops from the peninsula.” Here, this important historical document is made available in audiobook form."

Sir Keith Murdoch (Author), Sarah Bacaller (Narrator)

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Aotearoa an unbiased AI synopsis of New Zealand History: with a glimpse to the future

"This synopsis is an invitation to see New Zealand’s history through an A.I. lens, unclouded by judgement, aiming to respect all perspectives. From the arrival of the Polynesians to the colonial era and beyond, this book delves into the rich heritage, significant events and key figures that have shaped the nation. Through an objective lens, readers gain insight into the land’s Māori origins, European settlement, the Treaty of Waitangi, socio-economic developments and contemporary challenges. You are invited to join in this exploratory journey, armed with curiosity and an open mind as we navigate through the annals of New Zealand history; to re-examine historical accounts, providing a narrative both expansive and inclusive, avoiding political and cultural bias. It has been inspired especially for New Zealand history students of all ages, travellers and aficionados."

Toni Spellmeyer (Author), Lateefah Smith (Narrator)

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The Golden Gang: Bushranger Frank Gardiner and the biggest gold robbery in Australian history

"The first comprehensive biography of the godfather of Australian bushranging - Frank Gardiner - leader of the Lachlan gang and mastermind of the largest gold heist in Australian history. Atop the hierarchy of Australian bushrangers sits Ned Kelly - the ultimate outlaw - and just below him, the tragic figure of Ben Hall, who joined a gang led by a man whose name today is less well known, but in his time was much more famous than any other: Frank Gardiner. Mastermind of the largest gold robbery in Australia's history, Gardiner led an extraordinary life, the full telling of which is long overdue. In a tough country and among a group of tough men, Gardiner was the toughest of them all. But while he engaged in gunfights with police to evade capture, he was always courteous and could lay claim to never killing anyone, and never stole from those who couldn't afford to be robbed. He went by three different surnames in his lifetime and spent almost half of it behind bars, including at some of the colonies' most notorious penal institutions: the Pentridge Stockade, Cockatoo Island and Darlinghurst Gaol. But if Gardiner was never quite the Robin Hood he sometimes imagined himself to be, he was nevertheless a natural leader, and a man capable of inspiring a motley bunch of stockmen and drifters to become the most effective and successful bushranging gang in the country's history. His Lachlan gang operated with a clockwork efficiency that culminated in the robbery of the Gold Escort at Eugowra Rocks, and from 1861 to 1863 it held reign over the roads of the Western Plains of New South Wales. Richly detailed, The Golden Gang shines a new light onto Gardiner's remarkable life - one that ended in shocking tragedy - and reinstates him in the pantheon of Australian outlaw heroes."

Ian W. Shaw (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta

"A fascinating first-person origin story of the Rastafari ideology, culture, and philosophy, capturing a crucial and little-known chapter in Jamaican history IN 1932, A JAMAICAN MAN NAMED LEONARD PERCIVAL HOWELL began leading nonviolent protests in Kingston, Jamaica, against British colonial rule. While history books rightly credit Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. with popularizing nonviolent protest strategies in later years, little is known about Leonard Howell and his vision of self-reliance?poor people working together to build a society of their own. When Howell first started preaching on street corners in Kingston, he was immediately perceived as seditious, and he became a target for police harassment. Howell soon founded an organization called the Ethiopian Salvation Society. His idea was to add a religious element to Marcus Garvey's message of African independence. Although Christian values were part of his belief system, he decided to make a break from the Christian interpretation of the Bible and extend the idea of divinity to a living man, Emperor Haile Selassie I, who had been crowned king of Ethiopia in 1930. Jamaican journalists coined a name for the group: the Ras Tafarites, or Rastas. Howell was arrested several times and was eventually found guilty of sedition and sentenced to prison for two years of hard labor. In 1940, Howell and his growing group of followers moved to an old estate in the parish of St. Catherine. They named their land Pinnacle, and for the next sixteen years built a self-reliant community that would ultimately give birth to the Rastafari movement. In 1942, Leonard Howell's wife Tenneth gave birth to their second child, whom they named Bill. In Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta, Bill Blade Howell offers his firsthand account of this utopian community that suffered near-constant persecution from Jamaican authorities. Howell also dispels many misguided notions about the origins of Rastafari culture, including allegations of sexism and homophobia. Pinnacle was built on egalitarian principles and steered clear of all religious dogma. Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta provides a crucial and highly informed new perspective on the Rastafari subculture that Bob Marley would later help to spread across the globe. The volume includes original documents related to Pinnacle."

Bill Howell, Hélène Lee (Author), Jaime Lincoln Smith (Narrator)

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The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli

"The many lives and tragic death of Harry Freame, the Anzac hero betrayed by his nation. Harry Freame was the first Australian to win the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Gallipoli. Raised as a samurai, he risked his life again and again to scout the beaches and hills of the battlefield, reporting invaluable intelligence back to his officers and relieving stranded soldiers who otherwise would surely have died. Some say he should have got the VC but didn't because he was half-Japanese, a fact he tried hard to conceal. After the war, Harry (real name Henry Wykeham Koba Freame) became a soldier settler and champion apple grower. But when Japan emerged as a perceived threat to Australia, Harry was recruited into Australian intelligence to spy on the Japanese community in Sydney. Before Japan's entry into World War II, Australia opened a diplomatic legation in Tokyo, and Harry was sent as a translator - but his real role was a spy. Extraordinarily, his cover was leaked by the Australian press, and the Japanese secret police tried to assassinate him not long after his arrival in Tokyo in 1941. Harry died back in Australia a few weeks later, but his sacrifice has never been acknowledged by Australia. Until now. Featuring never-before-seen material, The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli is a fascinating and immersive investigation into a grievous historical wrong."

Ryan Butta (Author), Chris Stollery (Narrator)

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We Will Not Cease

"We Will Not Cease is the unflinching account of New Zealander Archibald Baxter's brutal treatment as a conscientious objector during World War I. In 1915, when Baxter was 33, he was arrested, sent to prison, then shipped under guard to Europe where he was forced to the front line against his will. Punished to the limits of his physical and mental endurance, Baxter was stripped of all dignity, beaten, starved and left for dead by the New Zealand military. In the final attempt to discredit him authorities consigned him to a mental institution, an experience that would haunt him for the rest of his life."

Archibald Baxter (Author), Peter Hayden (Narrator)

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Lest: Australian War Myths

"From Simpson's donkey and the Emu War to Vietnam and Ben Roberts-Smith, Australian military history is full of events that didn't happen the way most people think they did. In his inimitable style, award-winning author Mark Dapin sets the record straight. Australia has many stories and statues 'lest we forget' our military past. But from Simpson's donkey to Ben Roberts-Smith, our history is full of events that didn't happen the way most people think they did. The first Anzac Day, for example, was far from being a solemn march - it was a celebration where people dressed as cavemen and dinosaurs, among other things. And is it true that British officers callously dispatched Australian soldiers to their deaths in the Dardanelles, as we've been told? Did we really hate the soldiers returning from Vietnam? Were the white-feather women of the First World War fact or fiction? In his inimitable style, award-winning author and historian Mark Dapin sets the record straight, showing that the reality was often completely different from the myth - and that in celebrating the wrong people we often overlook the real heroes. 'With Lest, Mark Dapin transforms his trademark humour into serious history … It forces us to look again at stories we think we all know - or should know - and reframe them with intellectual rectitude and rigour … Lest offers new perspectives on the past from one of Australia's most interesting and provocative thinkers.' Clare Wright"

Mark Dapin (Author), Henry Nixon (Narrator)

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The Modern Discovery of Australia and New Zealand: The History of the Indigenous Natives and the Ini

"A land of almost 3 million square miles has lain since time immemorial on the southern flank of the planet, so isolated that it remained entirely outside of European knowledge until 1770. However, the first human footprints on this vast territory were felt 70,000 years earlier, as people began to cross the periodic land bridges and the short sea crossings from Southeast Asia. By the mid-17th century, the existence of a land in the south referred to as Terra Australis was generally known and understood by the Europeans, and incrementally, its shores were observed and mapped. Van Diemen’s Land, an island off the south coast of Australia now called Tasmania, was identified in 1642 by Dutch mariner Abel Tasman, and a few months later, the intrepid Dutchman would add New Zealand to the map of the known world. At the time, the English were the greatest naval power in Europe, but they arrived on the scene rather later. The first to appear was William Dampier, captain of the HMS Roebuck, in 1699, after he had been granted a Royal Commission by King William III to explore the east coast of New Holland. By then, the general global balance of power was shifting, and with the English gaining a solid foothold in India, their supremacy in the Indian Ocean trade zone began. The Dutch, once predominant in the region, began slowly to lose ground, slipping out of contention as a major global trading power. So too were the Portuguese, also once dominant in the region. It was now just the French and the English who were facing one another down in a quest to dominate the world, but their imperial interests were focused mainly in India and the East Indies, as well as the Caribbean and the Americas. As a result, the potential of a vast, practically uninhabited great southern continent did not yet hold much interest. By then the world was largely mapped, with just regions such as the Arctic Archipelago and the two poles remaining terra incognita."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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Australia & Oceania Audiobooks in History