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Books that make you think.

We publish leading non-fiction under the NewSouth and UNSW Press imprints.

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9781761170119

Looking from the North: Australian history from the top down

Acclaimed historian Henry Reynolds turns Australian history on its axis in a ground-breaking exploration of how colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn was very different to the southern states.

9781761170256

Hooked: Inside the murky world of Australia's gambling industry

Quentin Beresford

With a cast of questionable characters, iconic corporate brands, eye-watering greed, political subterfuge and the many state and federal politicians who have sold out to the gambling industry, Hooked exposes the underbelly of gambling in Australia.

9781761170171

Liars, cheats and copycats: Trickery and deception in nature

Popular science writer James O’Hanlon introduces readers to a smorgasbord of creatures who use disguise, camouflage, mimicry and misdirection to beat their predators.

9781761170508

The Best Australian Science Writing 2025

Edited by Zoe Kean, Tegan Taylor, foreword by Veena Sahajwalla

This much-loved anthology – now in its fifteenth year – selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating stories from Australian writers, poets and scientists.

9781742237800

Heart of Ice: A journey into Antarctica’s frozen realm

Acclaimed writer Joy McCann takes the reader on a compelling journey, navigating entangled stories of ice and rock, humans, animals and other species, through the prism of Antarctica’s ice.

9781761170553

PIX: The Magazine that told Australia's Story

The magazine that shocked, entertained and informed Australians like never before is celebrated in a new book.

9781761170195

Elizabeth Harrower: The woman in the watch tower

The revealing biography of a leading – and enigmatic – Australian novelist.

9781761170386

(Be)wilder: Journeys in Nature

Can our interactions with wildlife help answer life’s big questions? Acclaimed urban ecologist Darryl explores how people around the world interact with the natural world.

9781761170461

A photographic celebration of some of nature’s most majestic creatures –humpback whales.

9781742238043

Newcastle: The Lives and Times of a City

Newcastle finds itself on shifting ground. But it's not an earthquake, or subsidence due to an old mine. It's perception that's shifting.

9781761170102

Unfinished Revolution: The feminist fightback

Virginia Haussegger

Unfinished Revolution is a clarion call to reignite revolutionary feminist action.

9781761170362

Australian Heroes of World War II: Remarkable stories of battlefield courage

Leading military historian Mark Johnston tells stories of the courage of individual soldiers across every battle in which Australians fought in World War II.

9781761170546

2026 Australasian Sky Guide

The ultimate guide to the night sky.

9781742237367

Curlews on Vulture Street: Cities, Birds, People and Me

Acclaimed urban ecologist Darryl Jones reveals the not-so-secret lives of the most common birds that share our towns and cities.

A Field Guide to the Fungi of Australia

A. M. Young, illustrated by Kay Smith

An indispensable field guide to Australia’s fungi by one of the nation’s foremost experts.

Eucalypts of the Sydney Region: A Bushwalker's Guide 2nd

Gary Leonard

Designed to fit into the backpack of bushwalkers, students, botanists, field ecologists, and foresters, Eucalypts of the Sydney Region

9781742237930

Walking Sydney: Fifteen walks with a city’s writers

Belinda Castles

Walking Sydney invites you to walk with a city’s writers as they share their places of home and imagination.

9781761170409

Living Greatly in the Law: Hal Wootten’s selected writing and speeches

Edited by David Dixon, Andrew Lynch

In this edited collection of essays, speeches and unpublished work, David Dixon and Andrew Lynch present Wootten’s contribution to shaping a more just society.

9781761170164

Plain Life: On thinking, feeling and deciding

Antonia Pont’s Plain Life presents a series of essays that think through central ideas of happiness, rest and relaxation, talking and allowing for silence, community and leadership.

9781761170737

The First Albanese Government: Governing in an age of disruption and division, 2022–2025

Edited by Michelle Grattan, John Halligan, John Hawkins

Australia’s leading voices on politics and policy examine the first Albanese Government from 2022 to 2025.

9781761170447

Speak Up: How to be a successful presenter and media spokesperson

Whatever your role, this easy-to-use guide will inspire you to step up to the microphone, tell your story and make an impact.

9781761170638

Raven Mother: War, family and inheritance: a memoir

In Raven Mother, Jane Messer weaves together her Jewish family’s compelling and tragic story – stretching back and forth between Berlin, Israel, Palestine, Melbourne and Sydney.

9781761170379

The House of Blue Glass

Acclaimed historian Alan Atkinson pieces together the life of Penelope Lucas, the first professionally qualified woman to emigrate from Europe to Australia.

9781761170713

The Library That Made Me: 200 years of the State Library of NSW

Edited by Richard Neville, Phillipa McGuinness

A love letter to libraries everywhere.

9781761170515

The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution

Rosalind Dixon, William Partlett

Leading legal academics Rosalind Dixon and Will Partlett bring the Australian Constitution and its importance vividly to life.

9781761170706

Challenging Anzac: Stories that don’t fit the legend

Edited by Mia Martin Hobbs, Carolyn Holbrook, Joan Beaumont

The Anzac legend has shaped Australia’s national identity for more than a century – yet many Australians’ experiences of war do not fit comfortably within this mythic narrative.

9781761170478

Crip Stories: An anthology of disabled writers

Edited by BS Windon, Laura Pettenuzzo, Misbah Wolf, Katie Hansord

Crip Stories is a gathering of vibrant and diverse experiences from disabled people; A collection of narrative non-fiction, essays and poetry.

9781761170522

Gold Standard?: Remembering the Hawke government

Edited by Frank Bongiorno, Carolyn Holbrook, Joshua Black

A stellar lineup of historians, social scientists, politicians and journalists sheds valuable new light on the policies, politics and personalities of the Hawke Government.

9781761170263

Quiet Protest: A new history of activism during the Vietnam War

Effie Karageorgos

A new history of protest told through the quiet activism of everyday Australians.

9781761170560

Urban Pest Management in Australia New Edition

Ion Staunton, Phillip Hadlington, John Gerozisis

A new fully updated edition of the major reference work for Australian pest control operators.

9781761170188

How to be a (fantastic sensational) good enough kid

Alice Peel with illustrations by Beck Feiner

How to be a (fantastic sensational) good enough kid is the ultimate guide for kids and parents to discover that feeling ‘good enough’ is already within our reach.

9781761170119

Looking from the North: Australian history from the top down

Acclaimed historian Henry Reynolds turns Australian history on its axis in a ground-breaking exploration of how colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn was very different to the southern states.

9781761170362

Australian Heroes of World War II: Remarkable stories of battlefield courage

Leading military historian Mark Johnston tells stories of the courage of individual soldiers across every battle in which Australians fought in World War II.

9781761170508

The Best Australian Science Writing 2025

Edited by Zoe Kean, Tegan Taylor, foreword by Veena Sahajwalla

This much-loved anthology – now in its fifteenth year – selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating stories from Australian writers, poets and scientists.

9781742238050

Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neighbourhood: A Field Guide

Interested in birds but don’t know where to start? Overwhelmed by the bird guides? Want to know more about the birds you see around you? Then this is the book for you!

9781761170331

Remember When … Snapshots of Australia from the ’50s to the ’90s

Remember When … Snapshots of Australia from the ’50s to ’90s is a photographic trip down memory lane, celebrating the people, places, events and experiences that shaped our nation in the second half of the 20th century.

9781761170010

Human/Nature: On life in a wild world

A lyrical work of creative nonfiction, Human/Nature is an exploration of how and why we think about the natural world the way we do.

9781761170287

Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An encyclopaedia of a Palestinian family

Fixing its gaze on moments, places and objects – from the streets of Bethlehem to the Palestinian neighbourhoods of the New Jerusalem – Find me at the Jaffa Gate assembles a story of Palestinian diaspora, returning to the origins of violence in the Nakba.

9781761170270

Swimming Sydney: A tale of 52 swims

In a love letter to the swimming spots of Sydney, Chris Baker takes 52 swims in and around Sydney over the course of a calendar year.

9781742237503

Inconvenient Women: Australian radical writers 1900–1970

Jacqueline Kent

Acclaimed biographer Jacqueline Kent traces the social and political issues that inspired – and often hampered – Australian radical women writers and their desire to change the world.

Awards

9781761170294

The Power of Choice

In The Power of Choice, award-winning photographer Julian Kingma turns his camera on those who choose assisted dying, and those who help them on their final journey. These intimate portraits, along with essays from Andrew Denton and Richard Flanagan, invite us to ask, perhaps for the first time, what makes a good death.

9781742238197

Breaking the Boss Bias: How to get more women into leadership

Award-winning author Catherine Fox maps out seven ways to recognise and beat boss bias.

9781761170089

Vector: A surprising story of space, time, and mathematical transformation

Robyn Arianrhod

A celebration of the seemingly simple idea that allowed us to imagine the world in new dimensions — sparking both controversy and discovery.

9781742238036

Yirranma Place: Stories of a Darlinghurst corner

Gadigal country, Woolloomooloo Farm, Riley Estate, Burdekin’s paddock, Burlington Picture Palace, First Church of Christ Scientist, party mansion, Yirranma Place – the many transformations of 262 Liverpool Street Darlinghurst reflect the long and layered history of Sydney.

9781761170034

Critical Care: Nurses on the frontline of Australia's AIDS crisis

Critical Care paints a vivid and nuanced picture of HIV and AIDS nursing and sheds light on an unexamined aspect of Australia’s AIDS crisis.

9781742237992

Peripathetic: Notes on (un)belonging

Peripathetic is an essay collection exploring globalised identities in flux.

9781742238012

Reading the Rooms: Behind the paintings of the State Library of NSW

Edited by Rachel Franks, Richard Neville

The incredible painting collection of the State Library of New South Wales is documented for the first time.

9781742238128

Tiwi Story: Turning history downside up

Mavis Kerinaiua, Laura Rademaker

Tiwi Story showcases stories of resilience, creativity and survival as told by the Tiwi people.

9781742237565

Elizabeth and John

A landmark and revealing joint biography of Elizabeth and John Macarthur, from one of Australia’s most respected historians.

9781742237343

An Uncommon Hangman

The gruesome and compelling tale of Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard, the longest-serving executioner for the colony of NSW.

9781742237312

Exquisitely written, Eda Gunaydin’s essays unsettle neat descriptions of inheritance, belonging and place.

9781742236780

Wounded Country: The Murray–Darling Basin – a contested history

Quentin Beresford

9781742237091

French Connection

Alexis Bergantz

Winner, NSW Premier’s History Awards 2022, Australian History Prize

Truth-Telling_front_FINAL

Truth-Telling: History, sovereignty and the Uluru Statement

Andrew Andersons

Bernice Murphy, Leon Paroissien

The first book published on acclaimed Australian architect Andrew Andersons, written by well-known arts administrators Leon Paroissien and Bernice Murphy.

*WINNER of the 2020 Colin Roderick Award* *Longlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize*

The Bible in Australia: A cultural history updated edition

WINNER of the Nonfiction Award 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature

Beyond the Hero’s Journey

Anthony Mullins

In the Eye of the Storm

Robert Reynolds, Shirleene Robinson, Paul Sendziuk

Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, Joanna Atherfold Finn

'I'm going plastic free next month, who wants to join me?'

Ground-breaking history from Henry Reynolds

9781761170119

Looking from the North: Australian history from the top down

Acclaimed historian Henry Reynolds turns Australian history on its axis in a ground-breaking exploration of how colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn was very different to the southern states.

Truth-Telling_front_FINAL

Truth-Telling: History, sovereignty and the Uluru Statement

9781742237596

Influential historian Henry Reynolds returns with this new edition of Forgotten War, which questions the conspicuous absence of the frontier wars from our official military history and public memory.

9781742237770

Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero, new edition

Henry Reynolds, Nicholas Clements

An epic story of resistance, suffering and survival. Tongerlongeter resurrects a once-in-a-generation leader all Australians can admire.

Unnecessary Wars

'Australian governments find it easy to go to war. Their leaders seem to be able to withdraw with a calm conscience, answerable neither to God nor humanity.'

The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European invasion of Australia

This Whispering in Our Hearts Revisited

'How is it our minds are not satisfied? What means this whispering in the bottom of our hearts?'

Read on the wild side this Christmas

9781761170386

(Be)wilder: Journeys in Nature

Can our interactions with wildlife help answer life’s big questions? Acclaimed urban ecologist Darryl explores how people around the world interact with the natural world.

9781761170171

Liars, cheats and copycats: Trickery and deception in nature

Popular science writer James O’Hanlon introduces readers to a smorgasbord of creatures who use disguise, camouflage, mimicry and misdirection to beat their predators.

9781742237800

Heart of Ice: A journey into Antarctica’s frozen realm

Acclaimed writer Joy McCann takes the reader on a compelling journey, navigating entangled stories of ice and rock, humans, animals and other species, through the prism of Antarctica’s ice.

9781742238227

The Bee Squad: Boosting biodiversity in your neighbourhood

Judy Friedlander

The Bee Squad is jam-packed with fun adventures and hands-on projects to help kids boost biodiversity in their neighbourhood.

9781761170461

A photographic celebration of some of nature’s most majestic creatures –humpback whales.

9781761170546

2026 Australasian Sky Guide

The ultimate guide to the night sky.

9781761170010

Human/Nature: On life in a wild world

A lyrical work of creative nonfiction, Human/Nature is an exploration of how and why we think about the natural world the way we do.

Funga Obscura: Photo journeys among fungi

A visual love letter, in Funga Obscura ecologist Alison Pouliot brings guides us through the forrest to share stunning photographs and writing on fungi across Australia and the globe.

9781742238104

Why Are We Like This?: An evolutionary search for answers to life's big questions

An exhilarating scientific journey, Why Are We Like This? takes us behind the scenes of the evolutionary paradoxes that make up life on this planet.

9781742237978

Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales

Vanessa Pirotta

Dive beneath the surface with acclaimed wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta as she reveals the mysterious world of humpback whales — and gets mugged by whales, touched by a baby whale, covered in whale snot and much more.

Celebrate Science Writing

9781761170058

Vaccine Nation: Science, reason and the threat to 200 years of progress

Raina MacIntyre

A gripping journey through the past, present and future of vaccines.

9781761170010

Human/Nature: On life in a wild world

A lyrical work of creative nonfiction, Human/Nature is an exploration of how and why we think about the natural world the way we do.

Funga Obscura: Photo journeys among fungi

A visual love letter, in Funga Obscura ecologist Alison Pouliot brings guides us through the forrest to share stunning photographs and writing on fungi across Australia and the globe.

9781742238227

The Bee Squad: Boosting biodiversity in your neighbourhood

Judy Friedlander

The Bee Squad is jam-packed with fun adventures and hands-on projects to help kids boost biodiversity in their neighbourhood.

9781742238104

Why Are We Like This?: An evolutionary search for answers to life's big questions

An exhilarating scientific journey, Why Are We Like This? takes us behind the scenes of the evolutionary paradoxes that make up life on this planet.

9781742237978

Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales

Vanessa Pirotta

Dive beneath the surface with acclaimed wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta as she reveals the mysterious world of humpback whales — and gets mugged by whales, touched by a baby whale, covered in whale snot and much more.

9781742237817

James O’Hanlon takes us to all corners of the globe (and even outer space) to explore spiders and show us why they’re not so scary after all.

9781742238050

Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neighbourhood: A Field Guide

Interested in birds but don’t know where to start? Overwhelmed by the bird guides? Want to know more about the birds you see around you? Then this is the book for you!

Back Up unearths the causes of back pain, the ways we try (and fail) to treat it, and the new science that might hold a cure.

9781742236759

Future Superhuman

Strap in for an exhilarating, and starkly honest, take on the promise and peril of life in the 21st century.

Beyond Climate Grief

How do we find courage when climate change overwhelms us emotionally?

9781761170386

(Be)wilder: Journeys in Nature

Can our interactions with wildlife help answer life’s big questions? Acclaimed urban ecologist Darryl explores how people around the world interact with the natural world.

9781761170171

Liars, cheats and copycats: Trickery and deception in nature

Popular science writer James O’Hanlon introduces readers to a smorgasbord of creatures who use disguise, camouflage, mimicry and misdirection to beat their predators.

9781742237800

Heart of Ice: A journey into Antarctica’s frozen realm

Acclaimed writer Joy McCann takes the reader on a compelling journey, navigating entangled stories of ice and rock, humans, animals and other species, through the prism of Antarctica’s ice.

9781761170508

The Best Australian Science Writing 2025

Edited by Zoe Kean, Tegan Taylor, foreword by Veena Sahajwalla

This much-loved anthology – now in its fifteenth year – selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating stories from Australian writers, poets and scientists.

9781761170546

2026 Australasian Sky Guide

The ultimate guide to the night sky.

Must-read Military History

9781742238029

Uprising: War in the colony of New South Wales, 1838–1844

The award-winning author of The Sydney Wars reveals the breadth of frontier resistance warfare

9781761170201

Great at Heart: Gavin Merrick Long, Australia’s official Second World War historian

Great at Heart is the first life story of war correspondent, editor and principal author of the official history of the Second World War, Gavin Long.

9781761170027

Gull Force: Australian POWs on Ambon and Hainan, 1941–45

Acclaimed historian Joan Beaumont tells the story of Gull Force, the soldiers who were held as prisoners of war by the Japanese on Ambon and Hainan during the Second World War.

9781761170140

Beyond The Broken Years: Australian military history in 1000 books

Leading historian Peter Stanley traces the history of Australia’s military history in 1000 books that reveal the many facets of our continuing fascination with our military past.

9781742237879

Saving Lieutenant Kennedy

The incredible story of an Australian hero who helped save the life of a future president.

The Chipilly Six: Unsung heroes of the Great War

This is the remarkable war story of six ordinary Australian soldiers: the Chipilly Six.

Revealing Secrets: An unofficial history of Australian Signals intelligence & the advent of cyber

John Blaxland, Clare Birgin

This unofficial account of Australian Signals intelligence reveals the organisation’s efforts to reveal the secrets of others.

9781742237787

Darwin Spitfires

It has been 80 years since the bombing of Darwin. This anniversary edition of Darwin Spitfires offers a detailed and fascinating history of this unparalleled attack.

9781742237596

Influential historian Henry Reynolds returns with this new edition of Forgotten War, which questions the conspicuous absence of the frontier wars from our official military history and public memory.

Derrick VC in his own words

Edited by Mark Johnston

Edited and annotated by Mark Johnston, one of Australia's leading authorities on World War II, this book provides unprecedented insights into the mind and the remarkable career of one of Australia's most decorated and renowned servicemen.

Failures of Command

The Sydney Wars: Conflict in the early colony, 1788-1817

Dr Stephen Gapps

*Winner of the Les Carolyn Literary Prize* *Longlisted for the 2019 CHASS Australia Book Prize*

9781742237398

Edith Blake’s War: The only Australian nurse killed in action during the First World War

Krista Vane-Tempest

Calling all science storytellers!

Call for Entries: The Best Australian Science Writing and the UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing 2026

Entries are now open for The Best Australian Science Writing 2026 and the UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing 2026.

Catalogue

January to June 2026 Catalogue

Take a look at our exciting January to June 2026 titles.

January to June 2026 Catalogue cover image