Collection: Adult Non Fiction - Biography

At twenty-two, Jenny fell in love with Rick Old and went to live and work with him on his property, McAllister, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. There, she faced incredible hardship, living in a hut with not even basic necessities. Her only contact with the outside world was a two-way radio. In this v...

As a kid, Bernie Shakeshaft's mischievous and reckless behaviour led him to became known as the wild one of his devout Catholic family. It isn't surprising that his path led him to the Northern Territory, a place where people often go to either lose themselves or find themselves. Bernie, a search...

Bangka Strait, Indonesia, 1942. Allied ships are evacuating thousands in flight from Singapore, the island having fallen to Japanese Imperial forces. Facing terrifying assaults by fighter planes, one ship, the Vyner Brooke, is badly bombed and sinks. Its survivors swim or paddle for hours to the ...

Life in McIvor Street, Broadmeadows was unpredictable. Cally Egan grew up expecting and experiencing the best and worst of her 1960s Australian working-class community. So chaotic were the days and nights in her big Irish Catholic family that she often planned her escape. Perched on the cold terr...

Backstage Pass takes you beyond the makeup as Paul shares fascinating details about his life -- his fitness routine, philosophy, business principles, how he maintains his inspiration, passion, and joy after nearly 50 years of mega success including selling out tours, 100 million albums sold and a...

Outrageously funny, scandalous, sometimes shocking, but always fascinating, this is the life story of one of the most original characters ever to have graced the royal household.

"In 2016, author Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds flockin...

What if you followed your heart to a life that made you truly happy? When her daughter Emmie was 6 years old, Evie Farrell left her corporate career, sold or donated almost everything she owned, rented out her house and, hand-in-hand with Emmie, began an epic two-and-a-half-year backpacking adven...

This funny and personal memoir is the account of an audacious attempt by James Birch, a young British curator, to mount the ground-breaking retrospective of Francis Bacon's work at the newly refurbished Central House of Artists, Moscow in 1988. Side-lined by the British establishment, Birch found...

One of the most critically acclaimed memoirs ever written. One of the ten books - novels, memoirs and one very unusual biography - that make up our Matchbook Classics' series, a stunningly redesigned collection of some of the best loved titles on our backlist. Hailed as classic from its first pub...