Napoleon's Australia

Napoleon's Australia PDF Author: Terry Smyth
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 0143787292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
'A fascinating insight into French ambition and amity in Australia, bursting with joie de vivre' – David Hunt, bestselling author of Girt In the northern winter of 1814, a French armada set sail for New South Wales. The armada’s mission was the invasion of Sydney, and its inspiration and its fate were interwoven with one of history’s greatest love stories – that of Napoleon and Josephine. The Empress Josephine was fascinated by all things Australian. In the gardens of her grand estate, Malmaison, she kept kangaroos, emus, black swans and other Australian animals, along with hundreds of native plants brought back by French explorers in peacetime. And even when war raged between France and Britain, ships known to be carrying Australian flora and fauna for ‘Josephine’s Ark’ were given safe passage. Napoleon, too, had an abiding interest in Australia, but for quite different reasons. What Britain and its Australian colonies did not know was that French explorers visiting these shores, purporting to be naturalists on scientific expeditions, were in fact spies, gathering vital information on the colony’s defences. It was ripe for the picking. The conquest of Australia was on Bonaparte’s agenda for world domination, and detailed plans had been made for the invasion, and for how French Australia would be governed. How it all came together and how it fell apart is a remarkable tale – history with an element of the ‘What if?’ No less remarkable is how the tempestuous relationship between Napoleon and his empress affected the fate of the Great Southern Land.

Napoleon's Australia

Napoleon's Australia PDF Author: Terry Smyth
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 0143787292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
'A fascinating insight into French ambition and amity in Australia, bursting with joie de vivre' – David Hunt, bestselling author of Girt In the northern winter of 1814, a French armada set sail for New South Wales. The armada’s mission was the invasion of Sydney, and its inspiration and its fate were interwoven with one of history’s greatest love stories – that of Napoleon and Josephine. The Empress Josephine was fascinated by all things Australian. In the gardens of her grand estate, Malmaison, she kept kangaroos, emus, black swans and other Australian animals, along with hundreds of native plants brought back by French explorers in peacetime. And even when war raged between France and Britain, ships known to be carrying Australian flora and fauna for ‘Josephine’s Ark’ were given safe passage. Napoleon, too, had an abiding interest in Australia, but for quite different reasons. What Britain and its Australian colonies did not know was that French explorers visiting these shores, purporting to be naturalists on scientific expeditions, were in fact spies, gathering vital information on the colony’s defences. It was ripe for the picking. The conquest of Australia was on Bonaparte’s agenda for world domination, and detailed plans had been made for the invasion, and for how French Australia would be governed. How it all came together and how it fell apart is a remarkable tale – history with an element of the ‘What if?’ No less remarkable is how the tempestuous relationship between Napoleon and his empress affected the fate of the Great Southern Land.

Invading Australia

Invading Australia PDF Author: Peter Stanley
Publisher: e-penguin
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
1942 was a key year in Australia's history. As its people had so long feared, White Australia, an outpost of empire, seemed about to be invaded by the Japanese. In that one year, Darwin was bombed, submarines torpedoed ships in Sydney Harbour and Australian Militiamen died on the Kokoda Trail. Each year, more and more Australians celebrate Anzac Day and honour the lives of those who fought for their country. There is even a push to create a new public holiday, in remembrance and celebration of the 'Battle for Australia'. But was there ever really such a battle, and how close did Australia actually come to being invaded? Invading Australia provides a comprehensive, thorough and well-argued examination of these and other pertinent questions. Peter Stanley writes compellingly about Australian attitudes to Japan before, during and after World War II, and uses archival sources to discuss Japan's war plans early in 1942. He also shows that rather than a 'Battle for Australia' there was a worldwide fight for freedom and democracy that has allowed the West to enjoy great prosperity in the decades since 1945.

On Our Doorstep

On Our Doorstep PDF Author: Craig Collie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780369348432
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 663

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Book Description
'I can't understand the mentality of the Australian people,' said John Curtin. 'One day they are in a panic about the war and the next they want more race meetings.' Australia has a history of believing itself to be under threat of invasion. In 1942 that threat, in the form of invasion and occupation by the Japanese, seemed more imminent than the earlier fears. On Our Doorstep is the story of how Australia and Australians - the government, the military and the people - prepared to face this calamity, and the events that persuaded them of its probability. The Japanese had steamrolled through Malaya and Singapore, and bombed Darwin with the same ferocity they had dealt Pearl Harbor. Nothing could stop them. Their next step was inevitable, surely. Meanwhile, wartime leader John Curtin was battling with Winston Churchill to get Australian troops back to defend their homeland, and positioning to ensure America's help to fend off the approaching enemy. At home, people pitched in as best they could and in any way to frustrate the invader, all playing their part, torn between 'she'll be right' and near panic. Amid plans and rumoured plans to abandon the north to the enemy and deny Australia resources through scorched earth, particular attention was paid to northern Australia and the islands beyond. In the end, Japan found it had stretched itself beyond the reliability of its supply line, but had it ever intended to invade Australia?

Invading Australia: Japan and the battle for Australia, 1942

Invading Australia: Japan and the battle for Australia, 1942 PDF Author: Peter Stanley
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 174228485X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
1942 was a key year in Australia's history. As its people had so long feared, White Australia, an outpost of empire, seemed about to be invaded by the Japanese. In that one year, Darwin was bombed, submarines torpedoed ships in Sydney Harbour and Australian Militiamen died on the Kokoda Trail.Each year, more and more Australians celebrate Anzac Day and honour the lives of those who fought for their country. There is even a push to create a new public holiday, in remembrance and celebration of the 'Battle for Australia'. But was there ever really such a battle, and how close did Australia actually come to being invaded? Invading Australia provides a comprehensive, thorough and well-argued examination of these and other pertinent questions. Peter Stanley writes compellingly about Australian attitudes to Japan before, during and after World War II, and uses archival sources to discuss Japan's war plans early in 1942. He also shows that rather than a 'Battle for Australia' there was a worldwide fight for freedom and democracy that has allowed the West to enjoy great prosperity in the decades since 1945.

Silent Invasion

Silent Invasion PDF Author: Clive Hamilton
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
ISBN: 1743585446
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
In 2008 Clive Hamilton was at Parliament House in Canberra when the Beijing Olympic torch relay passed through. He watched in bewilderment as a small pro-Tibet protest was overrun by thousands of angry Chinese students. Where did they come from? Why were they so aggressive? And what gave them the right to shut down others exercising their democratic right to protest? The authorities did nothing about it, and what he saw stayed with him. In 2016 it was revealed that wealthy Chinese businessmen linked to the Chinese Communist Party had become the largest donors to both major political parties. Hamilton realised something big was happening, and decided to investigate the Chinese government’s influence in Australia. What he found shocked him. From politics to culture, real estate to agriculture, universities to unions, and even in our primary schools, he uncovered compelling evidence of the Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration of Australia. Sophisticated influence operations target Australia’s elites, and parts of the large Chinese-Australian diaspora have been mobilised to buy access to politicians, limit academic freedom, intimidate critics, collect information for Chinese intelligence agencies, and protest in the streets against Australian government policy. It’s no exaggeration to say the Chinese Communist Party and Australian democracy are on a collision course. The CCP is determined to win, while Australia looks the other way. Thoroughly researched and powerfully argued, Silent Invasionis a sobering examination of the mounting threats to democratic freedoms Australians have for too long taken for granted. Yes, China is important to our economic prosperity; but, Hamilton asks, how much is our sovereignty as a nation worth? ‘Anyone keen to understand how China draws other countries into its sphere of influence should start with Silent Invasion. This is an important book for the future of Australia. But tug on the threads of China’s influence networks in Australia and its global network of influence operations starts to unravel.’ –Professor John Fitzgerald, author of Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia

Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth PDF Author: Sue Rosen
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760638005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
Hidden for 75 years, the top secret government documents outlining preparations for the event of a Japanese invasion of Australia in 1942 have finally been discovered. They reveal an extraordinarily comprehensive plan to thwart Japanese troops, and a population that would go to great lengths to avoid being enslaved. In 1942 the threat of Japanese invasion hung over Australia. The men were away overseas, fighting on other fronts, and civilians were left unprotected at home. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese advance south, Prime Minister Curtin ordered state governments to prepare. From January 1942, a team frantically pulled together secret plans for a 'scorched earth' strategy. The goal was to prevent the Japanese from seizing resources for their war machine as they landed, and capturing Australians as slaves as they had done in Malaya and elsewhere in Asia. From draining domestic water tanks to sinking dinghies and burning crops, from training special citizen squads to evacuating coastal towns, 'Total war, total citizen collaboration' was the motto. Today these plans vividly evoke the fraught atmosphere of the year Australia was threatened with invasion. After the war these top secret plans were forgotten. This is the first time they have ever been made public. 'This is a treasure trove, a gold mine, a Christmas-every-day cornucopia of rich Australian history...' - Peter Grose, author of An Awkward Truth and A Very Rude Awakening.

A Line Too Far

A Line Too Far PDF Author: B. C. Colman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780473359560
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Chinese commandos in a lightning raid have seized the vast, under-populated, resource-rich lands of Northern Australia. Thousands of Australian soldiers are held hostage and international realpolitik has left Australia abandoned by its supposed allies.

Australia 1942

Australia 1942 PDF Author: Peter Dean
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110703227X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
This book explores the way in which Australia confronted the challenge of the shadow of war in 1942.

Australia, Canada, and Iraq

Australia, Canada, and Iraq PDF Author: Ramesh Thakur
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 1459731522
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was intensely controversial. Australia joined in the war, while Canada refused to. Australia, Canada, and Iraq is a collection of essays by world leaders and esteemed academics that offers a fresh review of the war and the critical Australian and Canadian decisions regarding it.

D-Day New Guinea

D-Day New Guinea PDF Author: Phillip Bradley
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760870943
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
The most complete telling of one of the most significant campaigns of the Pacific War and Australia's role in it. 'Java is heaven, Burma is hell, but you never come back alive from New Guinea' - Japanese military saying The capture of Lae was the most complex operation for the Australian army in the Second World War. In many ways it was also a rehearsal for the D-Day invasion of France, with an amphibious landing combined with the first successful large-scale Allied airborne operation of the war. D-Day New Guinea brings together the extraordinary stories of the Australian, American and Japanese participants in this battle, and of the fight against the cloying jungle, the raging rivers and the soaring mountain ranges that made New Guinea such a daunting battlefield. Phillip Bradley brings a compelling clarity, humanity and new insight into a little known but crucial Australian battle of the Pacific War.