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Burke and Wills
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Australia's best-selling nonfiction author of all time. Douglas Mawson, born in 1882 and knighted in 1914, was Australia's greatest Antarctic explorer. On 2 December 1911, he led an expedition from Hobart to explore the virgin frozen coastline below, 2000 miles of which had never felt the tread of a human foot. After setting up Main Base at Cape Denision and Western Base on Queen Mary Land, he headed east on an extraordinary sledging trek with his companions, Belgrave Ninnis and Dr Xavier Mertz.
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The Battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 was an Allied triumph and strategically very important in the closing stages of WWI. A largely Australian force, commanded by the brilliant Sir John Monash, fought what has been described as the first modern battle - where infantry, tanks, artillery and planes operated together as a coordinated force. Monash planned every detail meticulously, with nothing left to chance. Peter FitzSimons brings this Allied triumph to life and tells this magnificent story as it should be told.
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Gallipoli
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On 25 April 1915, Allied forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in present-day Turkey to secure the sea route between Britain and France in the west and Russia in the east. After eight months of terrible fighting, they would fail. Turkey regards the victory to this day as a defining moment in its history, a heroic last stand in the defence of the nation's Ottoman Empire.
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Entertaining listen on a tough subject
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Kokoda (by Peter FitzSimons)
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For Australians, Kokoda is the iconic battle of World War II, yet few people know just what happened and just what our troops achieved. Now, best-selling author Peter FitzSimons tells the Kokoda story in a gripping, moving story for all Australians.
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Compulsory listening...we must know this.
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Known to millions of Australians simply as "Smithy", Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was one of Australia's true twentieth-century legends. In an era in which aviators were superstars, Smithy was among the greatest and, throughout his amazing career his fame in Australia was matched only by that of Don Bradman.
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Moving.
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Fromelles and Pozières
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On 19 July 1916, 7,000 Australian soldiers - in the first major action of the AIF on the Western Front - attacked entrenched German positions at Fromelles, in Northern France. By the next day, no fewer than 5,500 were wounded and just under 1,900 were dead - a bloodbath that the Australian War Memorial describes as 'the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history'. Just days later, three Australian divisions attacked German positions at nearby Pozières, and over the next six weeks they suffered another 23,000 casualties.
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incredible account. .. not to be forgotten.
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Vietnam
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Drawing on hundreds of accounts by soldiers, politicians, aid workers, entertainers and the Vietnamese people, Paul Ham reconstructs for the first time the full history of our longest military campaign. From the commitment to engage, through the fight over conscription and the rise of the anti - war movement, to the tactics and horror of the battlefi eld, Ham exhumes the truth about this politicians' war - which sealed the fate of 50,000 Australian servicemen and women.
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Essential Knowlege - must listen
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Macquarie
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Lachlan Macquarie is credited with shaping Australia's destiny, transforming a harsh, foreboding penal colony into an agricultural powerhouse and ultimately a prosperous society. He also helped shape Australia's national character. An egalitarian at heart, Macquarie saw boundless potential in Britain's refuse, and under his rule many former convicts went on to become successful administrators, land owners and businesspeople.
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Wonderful story
- By Amazon Customer on 12-11-2019
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Captain James Cook
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- Unabridged
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From sailor to legend - the story of Captain James Cook, one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time. Rob Mundle introduces us to an unlikely sailor in a teenage Cook, who through the combination of hard-won skills as a seafarer, the talents of a self-taught navigator and surveyor, and an exceptional ability to lead and care for his men, climbed the ranks of the Royal Navy to achieve legendary status among all who sailed and mapped the world.
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I'm sorry it had to finish.
- By Jennifer2 on 12-07-2017
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Victory at Villers-Bretonneux
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- Length: 24 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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It's early 1918, and after four brutal years the fate of the Great War hangs in the balance. On the one hand, the fact that Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks have seized power in Russia - immediately suing for peace with Germany - means that no fewer than one million of the Kaiser's soldiers can now be transferred from there to the Western Front. On the other, now that America has entered the war, it means that two million American soldiers are also on their way, to tip the scales of war in favor of the Allies.
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Well structured story but new narrator needed
- By Sharon Livingstone on 08-05-2017
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Anzac Sniper
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- By: Roland Perry
- Narrated by: David Tredinnick
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In this gripping biography, Roland Perry paints a fascinating and complex portrait of Lieutenant General Sir Stanley George Savige, KBE, CB, DSO, MC, ED. Savige was a man of character and compassion, a quiet outsider who founded war veterans’ support charity Legacy, who still has few peers in courage, skill and achievement. His record is second to none in Australian military history, in the scope of his combat over two world wars.
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Not the story it seems
- By Ken C on 02-06-2019
Publisher's Summary
The iconic Australian exploration story - brought to life by Peter FitzSimons, Australia's storyteller.
'They have left here today!' he calls to the others. When King puts his hand down above the ashes of the fire, it is to find it still hot. There is even a tiny flame flickering from the end of one log. They must have left just hours ago.
Melbourne, 20 August 1860. In an ambitious quest to be the first Europeans to cross the harsh Australian continent, the Victorian Exploring Expedition sets off, with 15,000 well-wishers cheering them on. Led by Robert O'Hara Burke, a brave man totally lacking in the bush skills necessary for his task; surveyor and meteorologist William Wills; and 17 others, the expedition took 20 tons of equipment carried on six wagons, 23 horses and 26 camels.
Almost immediately plagued by disputes and sackings, the expeditioners battled the extremes of the Australian landscape and weather: its deserts, the boggy mangrove swamps of the Gulf, the searing heat and flooding rains. Food ran short and, unable to live off the land, the men nevertheless mostly spurned the offers of help from the local indigenous people.
In desperation, leaving the rest of the party at the expedition's depot on Coopers Creek, Burke, Wills, Charley Gray and John King made a dash for the Gulf in December 1860. Bad luck and bad management would see them miss by just hours a rendezvous back at Coopers Creek, leaving them stranded in the wilderness with practically no supplies. Only King survived to tell the tale. Yet, despite their tragic fates, the names of Burke and Wills have become synonymous with perseverance and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. They live on in our nation's history - and their story remains immediate and compelling.
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 22-06-2019
<br />Fascinating Reading/Listening
Well narrated-kept listener engaged-loved it- travelling and living in Channel Country it was great to learn more about the History of the area
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- Anonymous User
- 06-05-2019
A good book
Worth the download. Greatly read and a insight to our beautiful country. If you want a good aussie book... This is the one
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- Dicko
- 05-04-2019
A remarkable Experience. Fantastic Performance.
Peter Fitzsimons has out done himself with this one. Perfectly researched. Fantastic storyline it was a joy. Michael Carman is a genius and possibly the best Australian Narrator I have listened to. He nailed the accents which gave perfect character to the players. Highly Recommended to everyone interested in the highs and lows of Australian history.
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- jen.qld
- 10-03-2019
Absolutely Brilliant
I enjoyed it immensely. Another brilliant effort by Peter FitzSimons. Michael Carmen's narration was excellent!
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- Anonymous User
- 29-01-2019
slow start and prolonged end
a slow start to the story but very informative and historical, and the end was a bit prolonged but still very enjoyable.
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- Anonymous User
- 28-01-2019
Wish it was 10 hours smaller
Not quite historical, it's full of hindsights and anachronisms. Frustrating as a narrative. Nicely narratted
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- Noel Fell
- 16-12-2018
Great history lesson.
I loved the story. Very thorough . At times the details became heavy going but enjoyable.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- scott
- 20-07-2018
Highly recommended
Very interesting listen, extremely detailed, perhaps bordering on too much detail in sections which slows the pace of the book.
The narrator is very easy to listen to and I enjoyed the life he gives to the characters.
A great Australian tale to which all Australians should be familiar with, I was surprised at how much I didn’t know about the expedition as I thought I was fairly familiar!
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- Anonymous User
- 10-07-2018
Amazing story
This story sits high amongst the best of Australian stories. Peter and the team have clearly exhaustingly researched this story from many angles resulting in a book that provides clear insight into all details of this fascinating story! Would recommend this to anyone who wants to know about the heroics of early explorers in Australia.
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- Anonymous User
- 17-05-2018
good read
great book to listen to as you drive through the Australian outback. It gives good details of all aspects of the expedition, their personalities and major events.
However at times it was difficult to keep track of characters with similar names and to catch mention of what particular party was being spoken about while driving - rewinding the audio not being an option while at the wheel.
Overall a worthwhile way to spend driving time
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- Diane Reppun
- 25-01-2018
great book a little slow to begin with.
I found the earlier parts a little slow but then the overall story and how I was told was very engaging I would recommend this to anybody who wants to know about Australian history
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Ramanda Brockett
- 19-08-2019
Not my personal favorite
gave it a good try, dragged until half way through. I realized that this historical account had too much suffering and waiting around for me to be excited to hear what happened next.
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- Than
- 30-06-2019
The part about the photographs still makes me mad
I'm still stewing about the part about 3 hours from the end talking about the photographs. But aside from that the book itself is great, Interesting story I knew nothing about beforehand. The misconceptions by rescue parties searching for them about the aborigines really shows the flawed logic in a lot of the missing Leichhardt expedition theories of the same time. I feel bad for the horses and camels. I feel bad for the people. So many mistakes were made. I'm glad we have one witness to history in John King.
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- Erick
- 09-04-2019
Brilliant narration
This was an amazing book with an excellent narrator in Michael carman. He really brings the story to life.
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- Adrian
- 25-03-2018
Bravery and wisdom.
The story of Burke and Wills is an amazing account of a true expedition to journey through the centre of Australia in 1860. There are many characters involved but large degree Grey between the heroes and villians. Misfortune and mismanagement frequently hound the expedition. Add to this a touch of the exotic, with the young nation drawing upon different nationalities to accompany the expedition. Not to forget the somewhat novel use of camels, as well as the frequent interactions with the natives. Loved every word of this book, and was rewarded by the extensive coverage given to the Royall Commision afterwards, further analysing the many failures of communication and management, that led to Burke and Wills being abandoned. As for King, there's a character who clearly suffered depression following his rescue.
If you've never read about the story of Burke and Wills, then look no further than Peter FitzSimons version for a vivid and thorough account.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- Michael
- 20-06-2019
Very political!
Disappointed. Ive read several of Peter FitzSimons previously & found them full of action and enjoyable reading. Burke and Wills although full of relevant facts its vey slow going and difficult to keep interested in. I found it somewhat boring as it took so long for the journey to start and all the detailed political commentary, although no doubt relevant and factual, didn't do it for me.
Although I learnt a lot from listening to this book, I wouldn't recommend it if you like exciting books.