Economist and Labor MP Daniel Mulino explains how the Australian welfare state was created - and what we need to do to protect and extend itThe welfare state is one of the crowning achievements of the twentieth century, giving citizens access to...

'Russell Marks unravels a national tragedy. From the front line he delivers a first-rate, firsthand account of how so many First Nations people end up in jail, again and again.' -Patrick Dodson, Labor Senator for Western Australia Indigenous Australians...

A collection of bold new writing capturing Melbourne's identity in cinemaMelbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is Australia's most revered celebration of cinema. It is one of the world's oldest and most storied film festivals, continuously running...

A vivid and original account of the age of vaudeville in Australia and the eccentric women who gave it life.Whip-smart and fabulously funny, the women of vaudeville entertained Australia and challenged ideas of how women should behave. Opening a...

Why beautiful clothes in natural fibres are the answer to fashion's climate crisisIn this superbly written book, fashion insider Lucianne Tonti looks beyond sustainable fashion to a future remade by natural fibres. An exploratory dive into the art and...

Exquisite and challenging essays on the wonders of the natural world and the cultural complexities of writing landscape in AustraliaA collection of beautiful and moving essays on the wonder of the natural world and the cultural complexities of writing...

A beautiful work of the imagination, straddling history, memory, trauma and testimonyIn 1917, a young composer writes a suite of twenty pieces for piano. Each pass by like a gust of wind. They are short, violent and strange - the music of another world...

Is the US-Australia alliance now based on a fantasy?In this gripping essay, Hugh White explores Australia's fateful choice to back the United States to the hilt in opposing China. What led both sides of politics to align with the US so absolutely? Is...

Introducing a major new Australian literary voice - an unforgettable memoir of the complicated love between a mother and daughter'Easily the most vivid memoir I have ever read' -Sebastian Smee'I am sitting at my father's desk, waiting to call Intensive...

A luminous account of largely unrecognised experiences in the aftermath of war.This is not a war story about heroism or healing trauma, but an attempt to fill the gaps in a family story in the wake of the Vietnam War and re-animate a father never really...

Susan Varga's memoir covers a varied life across seven decades, circling between Australia and Europe, activism and seclusion, everyday life and the writing life.This compelling memoir of Susan Varga's life spans seven decades and circles between...

Can we build moral machines? Toby Walsh, AI expert, examines the ethical issues we face in a future dominated by artificial intelligence.Artificial intelligence is an essential part of our lives - for better or worse. AI can be used to influence what we...

A gripping account of Melbourne's unsolved Easey Street murders, now updated with new interviews and insightsSummer in Melbourne, 1977. Two young women are viciously murdered. The killer has never been found.Forty-five years ago, Suzanne Armstrong and...

A masterful portrait of a major Australian writer, her incandescent poetry and her battles to be heard in a male-dominated literary establishment.Winner of the 2023 National Biography AwardThe first biography of Gwen Harwood (1920-1995), one of...

How can Australia recalibrate its national security settings to meet future demands amid global disruption? Plicy expert Allan Behm offers practical ideas, imbued with optimismIs increased defence spending all that Australia needs to ensure its national...

In her exquisite poems, Marjon Mossammaparast explores the physical experience of being human, bound to four dimensions, matched with the belief we are also spirit beings.And to Ecstasy is a poetic journey through space and time, projecting a...

How can we mend Australia's broken mental health system?Mental illness is the great isolator - and the great unifier. Almost half of us will suffer from it at some point in our lives; it affects everybody in one way or another. Yet today Australia's...

The final, posthumous collection of poems from Australia's unofficial poet laureateIn a poetic gift from beyond the grave, Les Murray left a trove of last poems. These are poems he was working on up to his death, as well as work uncovered from his...

The first major anthology by parents with disabilitiesHow do two parents who are blind take their children to the park? How is a mother with dwarfism treated when she walks her child down the street? How do Deaf parents know when their baby cries in the...

Tennant Creek and Australia's Unresolved PastWinner of the 2022 Australian Political Book of the Year Award'A drily elegant, bracing work from a pained and open heart' -Helen Garner'Refreshing and original. A unique window on Australia's past and its...

The definitive guide to the world's most contested regionUPDATED WITH A NEW INTRODUCTIONWhat we call a part of the world is totemic- a mental map that guides the decisions of leaders and the story of order, war and peace. The Indo-Pacific is thus a...

An illuminating and entertaining history of the law's treatment of animalsTrespassing bees, murderous zebras, reasonable cows ... Ever since biblical times, animals have been clashing with human laws.In Guilty Pigs, animal law experts Katy Barnett and...

This autobiography by Leanne Benjamin with Sarah Crompton reveals the extraordinary life and career of one of the worldmost important ballet dancers of the past fifty years. The book takes you behind the scenes to find a real understanding of the...

An immersive journey into the underwater world that holds transformative lessons for us allCraig Foster and Ross Frylinck regularly dive together in the awe-inspiring kelp forests off South Africa, without wetsuits or oxygen tanks. Craig had dived this...

With clarity and passion, Pearson inspires readers to see difficult and controversial issues in new ways.Mission traces a life of politics, ideas and inspiring words.Whether he is recalling his boyhood in Hope Vale, Queensland, making the case for...

The saga of Australia continues with... GIRT NATIONDavid Hunt tramples the tall poppies of the past in charting Australia's transformation from aspiration to nation - an epic tale of charlatans and costermongers, of bush bards and bushier beards, of...

Winner of the 2022 Walkley Book Award. The gripping, deeply moving account of a terrifying fire - among the most ferocious Australia has ever seen'A vivid and terrifying glimpse of not just our future but our present. Every Australian should read this...

Featuring gardens of the Great Ocean RoadSoulscape- Connecting Gardens to Landscape takes readers on a journey through ten gardens located along the world-famous Great Ocean Road. It illustrates the challenges and outcomes of creating a garden by the...

I Am Melba - how a Melbourne girl defied her father and left her husband to become the most famous singer of the age. Growing up in Melbourne, Nellie Mitchell showed musical promise and dreamed of fame, but her father had more orthodox plans in mind...

How do you find yourself without losing your family? A memoir about growing up, breaking the rules and negotiating culture, from a new Australian voice.'Sara El Sayed has written a book both confident and delicate that will leave you eagerly awaiting her...

Seeking ways to understand her chosen continent better, Belinda Probert bought a rural property outside of Melbourne to observe the land more closely and learn how to garden differently.How do we understand a country? At a time when many easy...

Become your own mental health expertMental illness is too often portrayed with a sense of despair, as if it's a life sentence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Virtually everyone improves with help, and most of the help is relatively easy to...

'The demise of Fitzroy is a deep wound rather than a scar. A tear in the fabric of the game that will never truly repair' -Foreword by Gerard WhateleyMERGER tells the story of the Fitzroy Football Club's 1996 season in the Australian Football League, a...

From award-winning writer Erik Jensen comes a tender and involving narrative sequence of short love poems.'These poems were intended first as gifts. They are the story of falling in love . . . and realising that rejecting the gender binary is not one...

A visionary book for our wild times.A visionary book for our wild times. Scott Ludlam draws on his experience as a senator and activist to capture our world on a precipice and explore what comes next.One way or another, we are headed for radical change...

A gripping account of the paths that led postwar Russian migrants to Australia - and what they found when they arrived.More than 20,000 ethnic Russians migrated to Australia after the Second World War - yet we know very little about their experiences...

Melbourne Books is proud to add Open Table Byron Bay to its' range of cookbooks that includes bestselling titles such as Moroccan Soup Bar, Sweet Greek and Sweet Greek Life and Sicilano.Ronit Robbaz and her popular Open Table cooking school and catering...

How three female journalists- including Australian Kate Webb -broke into the male world of war reportage and transformed it forever.The never-before-told story of three women who courageously reported from the frontlines of the Vietnam War. One spent...

This book illuminates the art of architectural drawings.The best trained and most experienced librarian or curator is likely to confront difficulties in dealing with architectural drawings. Even an architect will be unable to understand some aspects of...

I'll Be Gone tells the story of a song that captured the imagination of a generation of young Australians.It reveals the musical and personal journey of Michael Rudd a national treasure, even though he's a New Zealander! The book traces Rudd's musical...

A definitive anthology that captures the masterful Don Watson at his best - powerful, insightful and funny.No other writer has journeyed further into the soul of Australia and returned to tell the tale ... Watsonia collects the fruits of a writing life...

Around every bend, as the climate and the colour changes within a few short kilometres, the Adelaide Hills holds surprises even for those who have lived in the region most of their lives.For visitors, the experience is breathtaking as these low-lying...

Ninety years after her drowning, the true story of Australia's first woman pilot reveals a pioneer in life as well as the sky.In Australia in the mid 1920s, flight was still new, dangerous and glamorous - and aviators were all men. That was until a...

This sumptuously produced coffee table book captures the essence of the fairy tale that is Chalet Monet.Situated in a dress circle position on the slopes of the village of Les Avants, overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Chalet Monet is the...

A better way to think about foreign influence and the nation's futureIn 2014, Chinese president Xi Jinping said there was an 'ocean of goodwill' between our country and his. Since then, that ocean has shown dramatic signs of freezing over. Australia is...

What would equality look like when it comes to gender and work? An updated edition of Annabel Crabb's acclaimed Quarterly Essay.When New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced her pregnancy, the headlines raced around the world. But when...

Spy vs Spy examines the newest threats and vulnerabilities Australia faces from espionage and foreign spies.'As its strength has increased, it has become clear that China has it own preferred set of rules. And that is as true in espionage as it is in...

A multi-award-winning French bestseller that brings poetry to the factory floorFactory you shall never have my soul I am here And I count for so much more than you And I count so much more because of you Thanks to youUnable to find work in his field,...