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The author of the bestselling Darwin Spitfires casts a forensic eye over the role that Allied air forces played – or failed to play – in crucial World War II campaigns in New Guinea. This is the story of the early battles of the South West Pacific theatre – the Coral Sea, Kokoda, Milne Bay, Guadalcanal – presented as a single air campaign that began with the Japanese conquest of Rabaul in January 1942. It is a story of both Australian and American airmen who flew and fought in the face of adversity – with incomplete training, inadequate aircraft, and from poorly set up and exposed airfields. And they persisted despite extreme exhaustion, sickness, poor morale and the near certainty of being murdered by their Japanese captors if they went down in enemy territory.

No one except Milrose Munce knows that ghosts of former students live in his school. Not only is Milrose aware of these ghouls – he’s on a first-name basis with all of them. Of course, some are more likeable than others: the third floor is the home to nearly all of his good friends. Most of them – like Imploded Ig, Deeply Damaged Dave, and Toasted Theresa – were the victims of science experiments gone wrong though they do manage to maintain a sense of humour about their demise. Then there are the ghost athletes who lurk in the basement – a pretty disagreeable group, the majority of them having died after a particularly clumsy manoeuvre on the school’s sports field. After Milrose is given yet another detention for offering his teacher an answer that was just a bit too clever, his life takes an unexpected turn. He is sent to a hidden den in the school’s basement to receive Professional Help. Here, he and the quick-witted Arabella, a fellow captive, are put under round-the-clock supervision of the maniacal Massimo Natica. Fortunately for Milrose and Arabella, once they join forces with their ghostly friends, Massimo Natica doesn’t stand a chance. In the tradition of Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl, the dark comedy and imaginative brilliance of Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help will appeal to adults as much as it will to younger readers.

• Excellent photographs from the Australian War Memorial collection • Dramatic air battles over a turbulent sea, hundreds of miles from land and without hope of rescue • Striking U-boat ‘kills’ as concrete proof of operational successes • Beautifully illustrated with many rare and unpublished photographs • Of interest to aviation and military historians, modellers, gamers and flight simulator enthusiasts 1943 was the turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic when forces, technologies and tactics turned against Germany’s U-boats. The victory not only secured Britain’s trans-Atlantic lifeline to the United States, but also enabled the vast build-up in military forces in Britain necessary to launch D-Day in 1944. The Allied battle to defeat the U-boat menace was a combined effort by the naval and air forces of several Allied nations, and this is the story of one part during the decisive mid-war period. Nos 10 and 461 Squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force flew Sunderland flying boats from bases in Wales and Devon as part of RAF Coastal Command; these two squadrons flew long-range daylight missions over the eastern Atlantic, patrolling Britain’s southwest approaches. They hunted and killed U-boats transiting between their mid-Atlantic hunting grounds and their bases in Bordeaux and fought furious air battles over the Bay of Biscay against Luftwaffe Ju 88 long-range fighters tasked specifically with shooting them down. These two Australian squadrons established a combat record.

The Japanese air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942 are well-known to most Australians, although not perhaps to the rest of the world. What happened afterwards, however, remains unknown to many. This publication attempts to illuminate this little-known period of war history, charting the exploits, losses and successes of the RAF's No 1 Fighter Wing and the contribution they made to the allied war effort. The stalwart Spitfire is celebrated in a narrative that is sure to appeal widely.For almost two years the airspace over North West Australia was routinely penetrated by Japanese raids, tallying about 70 in total. The 1942-43 air raids on Darwin constituted the only sustained and intensive direct assault on Australian mainland territory in the whole of World War II - and the whole history of post- 1788 Australia - yet, surprisingly, most Australians have no idea that it ever happened. And the rest of the world are yet more so in the dark.Telling the story of the RAF'S No 1 Fighter Wing, composed of both Australian and British Spitfire pilots, Darwin Spitfires explores the little known 1943 season of air combat over the top end, recovering important aspects of Australian history. It brings to the attention of the world the heroic exploits of the skilled pilots who did so much to protect Australia and support the Allied effort. This important publication attempts to celebrate and commemorate the spirit of solidarity that characterized the experiences of No 1 Fighter Wing.As featured in Aeroplane Monthly

Imagine having a teacher who was with you all of the time, was able to give you lessons every day on what you should or shouldn't do in life. Imagine that teacher was able to point you in your life's direction. Imagine that it was the Christ, the Great Teacher from 2000 years ago. In this book Paul Anthony Cooper states that he is not making any claims about certain things or experiences. He just tells you as it happened. What he has done and experienced cannot be taken away from him. You may ask 'prove it to me scientifically'. His answer is that he can't. You will have to go through the experience yourself. The writings in two journals were channelled through to Paul Anthony, over forty years ago but never published. He is taking the opportunity to do that now. They were typed on his Dad's old typewriter. The paper that they were written on is now yellow and discoloured, however the words are still as clear as when they were written. It was amazing the way the writings started. He started writing in verse, spiritual style writings. For the first page he felt that his hand was being controlled, but after that anything that was received came through inspirationally. The writings were thoughts and instructions that were coming through to instruct Paul Anthony on his spiritual pathway. Many of the words and expressions that were used were not words or expressions that he would normally use. Most of the time he did not have to think. However he maintains that it was inspirational writing rather than automatic. The reason why the writings started to come through were because he had asked to be shown the way, the spiritual way. He had said that he was ready to follow the Christ, wherever He led. He was ready to serve. Each time he sat down to write, Paul Anthony said that he felt a cloak around his shoulders. He felt a warm feeling on his back and he knew he was not alone. This writing went on for about 6 months, almost every night and over 300 pages were produced, hence two journals being written and published. You will have to make up your own mind about the truth and veracity of these writings. Paul Anthony Cooper invites you to read this journal and journal number 2, when it is published later in October 2013. These journals will produce food for thought on a large scale. They will challenge many of your ideas about religion and spirituality. e.g. He states that Jesus did not found Christianity, nor was He a Christian. It was his followers or their followers hundreds of years later that started the Church as we know it today. Journey with Paul Anthony Cooper on his spiritual journey and see the experiences that he went through in the six months that the writings were channelled through. Keep an open mind, accept what you can and put aside what you can't. Whatever you discover it will be thought-provoking. For those who are seeking, this journal and the author's first book 'Walk the Pathway to Spirituality' are must reads.

Documents the Third Earl's correspondence with five leading figures of the Holland-based Refuge Francais: Pierre Bayle, Jacques Basnage, Jean Le Clerc, Pierre Coste, and Pierre Des Maizeaux. All five were very active as intermediaries between Continental and English thought in the Republic of Letters, located in Holland because of that country's encouragement of free inquiry. Most of the correspondence is presented for the first time and reveals aspects of Shaftesbury's life and thought.

"Lord Ashley (later the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury), the 'Poor Man's Earl', is widely remembered as a leading aristocratic philanthropist whose concern for suffering and the oppressed victims of Victorian 'progress' saw him champion a range of social, industrial, educational, and health reforms. A deeply religious individual, his evangelicalism and sense of philanthropy as 'duty' make these extraordinarily rich and candid diaries a vital resource for understanding the motivations of a prominent philanthropist and Victorian social reformer. The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury contain detailed accounts of his labours, religious and philosophical reflections, self analysis, and descriptions and criticisms of contemporaries, and offer thereby a fascinating insight into Victorian politics and social change." --

' This is a helluva way to get a story.' In December 1943, five correspondents join the British bombers air raid on Berlin. The brave group included Australians, Americans and a Norwegian journalist, who are each assigned to one of the 400 Lancaster bombers that flew into the hazardous skies over Germany. Of the five, only two land back at base to file their stories. For those on the ground in Germany the story was far from over. Amongst them, having parachuted out of his doomed aircraft, reporter Lowell Bennett is taken prisoner alongside other surviving shot-down airmen. Yet when he manages to convince his captors he isn' t a soldier, it heralds the beginning of a remarkable tour of bombed-out German cities to see first-hand the devastation of war for the everyday Germans. In Dispatch from Berlin, 1943, Australian historian Anthony Cooper and German researcher Thorsten Perl uncover this remarkable true story of life during war.