Dear Village
Carthage
$36.99
CarthageA landmark new history of the ancient kingdom of Carthage, told through its iconic figures from Dido to Hannibal, drawing on brand new archaeological evidence to provide the definitive story of a legendary empire by a rising star in the field'This is not only history reclaimed, this is history at its best!' Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians- the Age of the Great Kings Carthage was a power that dominated the western Mediterranean for almost six centuries before its fall to Rome. The history of the realm and its Carthaginians was subsumed by their conquerors and, along the way, the story of the real Carthage was lost. An ancient North African kingdom, Carthage was the home of Hannibal and of Dido, of war elephants and enormous power and wealth, of great beauty and total destruction.In this landmark new history, Eve MacDonald tells the essential story of the lost culture of Carthage and of its forgotten people, using brand new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend. A journey that takes us the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the coast of Africa, Carthage puts the city and the story of North Africa once again at the centre of Mediterranean history. Reclaimed from the Romans, this is the Carthaginian version of the tale, revealing to us that, without Carthage, there would be no Rome.
Nigel Biggar
Colonialism
$34.99
The Sunday Times Bestseller A new assessment of the West’s colonial record In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the ‘End of History’ – that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever. Now however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats. These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the ‘decolonisation’ movement corrodes the West’s self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance as a litany of racism, exploitation, and massively murderous violence. Nigel Biggar tests this indictment, addressing the crucial questions in eight chapters: Was the British Empire driven primarily by greed and the lust to dominate? Should we speak of ‘colonialism and slavery’ in the same breath, as if they were identical? Was the Empire essentially racist? How far was it based on the theft of land? Did it involve genocide? Was it driven fundamentally by the motive of economic exploitation? Was undemocratic colonial government necessarily illegitimate? and, Was the Empire essentially violent, and its violence pervasively racist and terroristic? Biggar makes clear that, like any other long-standing state, the British Empire involved elements of injustice, sometimes appalling. On occasions it was culpably incompetent and presided over moments of dreadful tragedy. Nevertheless, from the early 1800s the Empire was committed to abolishing the slave trade in the name of a Christian conviction of the basic equality of all human beings. It ended endemic inter-tribal warfare, opened local economies to the opportunities of global trade, moderated the impact of inescapable modernisation, established the rule of law and liberal institutions such as a free press, and spent itself in defeating the murderously racist Nazi and Japanese empires in the Second World War. As encyclopaedic in historical breadth as it is penetrating in analytical depth, Colonialism offers a moral inquest into the colonial past, forensically contesting damaging falsehoods and thereby helping to rejuvenate faith in the West’s future.
Dear Village
Come On Australia
$34.99
One man’s bravery. A generation’s legacy. Lieutenant Colonel Terence Patrick McSharry CMG DSO MC was one of the Australian Imperial Force’s most respected battalion commanders—a man whose service, sacrifice, and leadership stand as a shining example of the AIF’s enduring values. From the brutal slopes of Gallipoli to the decisive battles of Bullecourt, Passchendaele, and Hamel, McSharry’s wartime experience spanned almost the entire duration of the Great War. He was among the first Australian officers to receive the Military Cross for gallantry, rising rapidly through the ranks to command the 15th Battalion with distinction. Tireless, courageous, and deeply respected by his men, McSharry embodied values-based leadership at every level of command, from subaltern to lieutenant colonel. Despite his extraordinary career, his story has never been told—until now. Come on Australia fills that long-standing gap, while also highlighting the broader absence of detailed studies on AIF battalion commanders. It places McSharry among the finest of his peers, offering a deeply researched and humanising portrait of a man who led by example and died as he lived, attempting to rescue a wounded soldier under fire. This is more than just a military biography. It is an exploration of character, of how excellence is built through habit and upheld through adversity. McSharry’s life offers modern readers, military professionals, and history enthusiasts an enduring lesson: that courage, compassion, and competence are as relevant today as they were more than a century ago. "Terence McSharry’s shows how one man’s leadership can shape a force — his legacy still underpins Australia’s role in coalition warfare today." “An inspiring true story of courage, sacrifice, and leadership on the battlefields of World War One.” "A powerful account of how AIF leadership, discipline, and innovation shaped Australia’s enduring military legacy."
Dear Village
Dampier, The Dutch And The Great South Land
$27.99
Dampier, the Dutch and the Great South Land
Dear Village
East Of 121: Five Minute Histories From Esperance
$39.00
East of 121: Five Minute Histories from EsperanceThe history of Esperance is filled with enthralling stories: shipwrecks, murders, feats of endurance and determination, gold and wealth, plagues and droughts, and even a bloodthirsty sealer who might have been a pirate. These stories, and many more, fill the pages of East of 121: Five Minute Histories from Esperance.Before the first Europeans set foot on these shores, the Wudjari Nyungar people named this bay ‘Kepa Kurl’, the place where the waters lie like a boomerang. In 1792, a visiting French admiral named the same bay ‘Esperance’ after one of the two ships in his expedition. In 1863, the Western Australian colonial government began offering land leases in the ‘East District’, east of longitude 121°, drawing the first hopeful pastoralists to the region. This book traces the history of Esperance and the surrounding region from these early days through to today.The stories in this book originally appeared as ‘Five Minute History’ articles in the beloved Esperance Tide magazine. Now revised and expanded, they comprise a wide-ranging history of Esperance, complete with photographs, maps, background information, and more.
Dear Village
Emperor Of The Seas: Kublai Khan And The Making Of China
$34.99
Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Khublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life. Khublai Khan is one of history s most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world s largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire. By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization- control the sea, and you control everything. A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever - revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.
Dear Village
Events That Shaped Australia - Updated Edition
$35.00
The events in this book have all, in a significant way, shaped our history, attitudes and culture. Not many nations can remember their own birthday, in Australia’s case 1 January, 1901 – the first day of the twentieth century. So it’s perhaps not surprising that many visitors to the Antipodes express wonder that Australia has a history at all. Certainly, it’s a short chronology by European standards – a little over 200 years ago the First Fleet deposited its white cargo on the fatal shores of Port Jackson. Yet we are not the shortest-lived nation in the Commonwealth by a long shot. When we take into account the First Australians we have perhaps the longest history of all. The events that changed Australian history are iconic, character-building and cataclysmic – the Boer War, Gallipoli and Kokoda. They can also be as seemingly flippant as the introduction of surfing, cricketers bowling a dangerous high bouncing ball and the death of a racehorse. However, all are major events in the evolution of our national psyche. Bodyline caused a diplomatic rift between England and Australia, millions have paid homage to Phar Lap’s heart. Surfing created a culture. Floods and Bushfires, and Covid impact on Australia and it's people.
Dear Village
Flawed Hero
$36.99
The shocking story of the case against Australia's most highly decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG, and the defamation trial of the century.
Dear Village
Great Australian Odysseys
$34.99
Great Australian OdysseysAmazing true tales of travel and adventure from Australia's master storyteller
Dear Village
Great Australian Urban Legends
$34.99
A hilarious dive into Australia's tallest tales from one of the country's funniest writers
Dear Village
Haunted States
$29.99
A fusion of travel literature and cultural criticism investigating the dark history of the US and exploring how past horrors - from witch trials to slavery and genocide - continue to haunt the national consciousness.A fusion of travel literature and cultural criticism investigating the dark history of the US and exploring how past horrors - from witch trials to slavery and genocide - continue to haunt the national consciousness.Haunted States is a unique guidebook that explores the dark, often horrifying, history of the US. Based on the author's journey across the United States in summer 2022, it explores locations connected to Gothic fiction and film, tracking the relationship between the American landscapes and the various forms of fictional horror the nation has produced over the centuries.Part cultural history and part travelogue, Haunted States traces how the American Gothic draws inspiration from the natural and built environments, with the astounding geographical variation of the landscape influencing the distinctive forms of horror produced across its many diverse regions. The book also investigates how the horrors of the American Gothic have their roots in the nation's dark history of colonialism, slavery, violence and oppression - past sins that continue to haunt the national consciousness to this day. Taking horror (in literature, film and the visual arts) as its starting point, Haunted States investigates the landscapes, places and cultures that produced it.Incorporating first-person travel narrative, historical context and supplementary interviews, Haunted States journeys across the USA to learn about its eclectic, regional forms of horror.
Dear Village
History's Strangest Deaths
$29.99
History's Strangest DeathsTrue stories of extraordinary deaths throughout history to the modern day from the host of the popular Half-Arsed History podcast.
Dear Village
In The Fight
$34.99
Forgotten men and women from Australia in a forgotten war – Burma 1942-1945. If you didn’t know that Australians were involved in the longest campaign of WWII, in Burma, in what was called ‘a forgotten war’, this book illuminates the lost stories of their service. In the Fight tells the compelling stories behind the involvement of Australians in what became one of the great sagas of the war against the Japanese in South East Asia, encompassing India, Ceylon, Burma, China, Thailand, Indo-China, Malaya, Singapore and Sumatra. While Australian airmen attached to the Royal Air Force were heavily engaged, many other Australians both uniformed and civilian were part of the monumental struggle to turn ‘defeat into victory’ in Burma. Australian war correspondents, Red Cross nurses, Royal Australian Navy sailors, war artists, commandos and saboteurs, soldiers serving with the British Indian Army, the Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma), well known sportsmen, government officials dealing with the terrible Bengal famine, Qantas crews and POWs in the Rangoon Jail are all covered in these detailed accounts. Written by leading authorities and expertly edited by Andrew Kilsby and Daryl Moran, In the Fight reveals the long hidden stories of the Australians and the war in Burma.
Dear Village
Izabela The Valiant
$45.00
Trawling through a vast family archive and arcane sources in half a dozen languages, Adam Zamoyski has revealed the dramatic life of his great-great-great grandmother, an uneducated, vulnerable girl cast into a man’s world. Her aristocratic position enmeshed her in high politics and close encounters with Frederick the Great, Benjamin Franklin, Rousseau, Joseph II, Marie-Antoinette and Tsar Alexander I, and earned her the enmity of Catherine the Great. She lived through revolution and no less than five wars, in which her cherished homes were devastated, her possessions looted and her children scattered. Caught up in tempestuous love affairs which led her to nervous breakdown and the brink of suicide, exploited by her lovers, she remained undaunted and liberated herself through education. And, unusually for her time, she became a caring mother devoted to her children. She learned much by travelling extensively around Europe at a time of political and ideological change, and her observations, particularly on Georgian Britain, are remarkable. She gradually won the admiration of learned men and intellectual honours. She pioneered schooling for children of the poor and developed her own educational methods. Fascinated by the power of objects to kindle memories and arouse emotions, she was an avid collector of anything with a sensuous association and built two unique museums to act as teaching aids. This is a story of triumph over adversity and betrayal. It was not achieved by her looks: ‘I have never been beautiful, but I have sometimes been pretty,’ she wrote. It was achieved by force of character and resilience.
