Search

The remarkable true story of a beguiling Melbourne housewife who in the 1920s seeks international fame, fortune and adventure as an aviator and finds herself as the central figure in a sensational American murder trial.'Mrs Keith Miller, internationally known aviatrix, was taken to the county jail here today and held for investigation by State Attorney's investigators. Jail attendants said they understood she was held in connection with the shooting of an airline pilot.'Petite, glamorous and beguiling, Jessie'Chubbie'Miller was one remarkable woman... flyer, thrill seeker, heartbreaker. No adventure was too wild for her, no danger too extreme. And all over the world men adored her.When the young Jessie left suburban Melbourne and her newspaperman husband in 1927, little did she know that she'd become the first woman to complete an England to Australia flight (with a black silk gown thrown into her small flight bag, just in case), or fly the first air race for women with Amelia Earhart, or that she would disappear over the Florida Straits feared lost forever only to charm her way to a rescue. Nor could she have predicted that five years later she'd find herself at the centre of one of the most notorious and controversial murder trials in United States history. And this all began with something as ridiculously mundane as a pat of butter.The Fabulous Flying Mrs Miller is a spellbinding story of an extraordinary woman - an international celebrity during the golden age of aviation - and her passionate and spirited life.

Fast-paced and surprising, this story of Australia's first female serial killer is as exciting as it is thought-provoking.'Never before in the hundred year history of Australia has a female prisoner become so notorious as Louisa Collins.'- Evening NewsTwo inquests, four trials, three hung juries and the executioner...but was Louisa Collins really a husband killer? Was she the callous adulteress, drunkard and liar known as the Botany Bay Murderess and the Lucrezia Borgia of Botany Bay? Or was this mother of seven a spirited and defiant woman who was punished for breaching society's expectations of womanly behaviour?Compelling, freshly told and richly detailed, Black Widow uncovers the truth of a story that challenged the morality, the politics and the notion of law in an Australia on the edge of nationhood.

He was the gentleman bushranger. she was the woman who rode with him. Full of action and drama, this is the richly detailed and unputdownable true story of Captain Thunderbolt and his lady. He was the gentleman bushranger. she was the woman who rode with him. This is the true story of Captain Thunderbolt and his lady.'Bail up!'demanded Captain Thunderbolt before he shouted the bar with the inn keeper's own profits. Driven into banditry by injustice, this colonial Robin Hood, magnificent horseman and skilled bushman was celebrated by his victims as vigorously as he was hunted by the law.She was his chief lieutenant, his eyes and his ears. Intelligent and beautiful, Mary Ann Bugg dressed as a man, rode like a man, and helped keep Thunderbolt ahead of the troopers and trackers intent on pursuing him to his end. Until one day.Compellingly written and richly detailed, Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady has it all - action, drama, and two protagonists who defied social conventions for freedom. This is an unputdownable story of an extraordinary partnership and a fresh retelling of one of Australia's greatest bushranging stories.'What a well-written, cracking read.'- Emeritus Professor Bruce Kercher

A fast-paced history of Colonial Sydney that tells the extraordinary story of the country's largest ever bank robbery and the people caught up in its wake - from the author of An Irresistible Temptation.It was the largest bank robbery in Australian history. On Sunday 14 September 1828, thieves tunnelled through a sewage drain into the vault of Sydney's Bank of Australia and stole 14 000 in notes and cash - the equivalent of $20 million in today's currency. This audacious group of convicts not only defied the weekly exhortation'thou shalt not steal!', they targeted the bank owned by the colony's self-anointed nobility. Delighted at this affront to their betters, Sydney's largely criminal and ex-criminal population did all they could to undermine the authorities'attempts to catch the robbers and retrieve the spoils. While the desperate bank directors offered increasingly large rewards and the government officers cast longing looks at the gallows, the robbers continued to elude detection. Then one day. With a rich cast of characters who refused to abase themselves to the establishment, this meticulously researched and fast-paced history tells the story of the daring Bank of Australia robbery and of the scheming robbers, greedy receivers and unfortunate suspects whose lives were irrevocably changed by this outrageous crime.On An Irresistible Temptation'. a work that captures the reader... an excellent example of how a good story can illuminate the past.'- Associate Professor Gregory Melleuish, Australian Literary Review'. [told] with a fine eye for the complex motivations, both political and personal, of characters [Baxter] paints a vivid picture of Jane New's world.'- Dr Kirsten McKenzie, Sydney Morning Herald'. [a] vivid social history.'Canberra Times