In the early 1930s, Nancy Wake was a young woman enjoying a bohemian life in Paris. By the end of the Second World War, she was the Gestapo's most wanted person. As a naive, young journalist, Nancy Wake witnessed a horrific scene of Nazi violence in a Viennese street. From that moment, she declared that she would do everything in her power to rid Europe of the Nazis.What began as a courier job here and there became a highly successful escape network for Allied soldiers, perfectly camouflaged by Nancy's high-society life in Marseille. Her network was soon so successful—and so notorious—that she was forced to flee France to escape the Gestapo, who had dubbed her "the white mouse" for her knack of slipping through its traps.But Nancy was a passionate enemy of the Nazis and refused to stay away. Supplying weapons and training members of a powerful underground fighting force, organizing Allied parachute drops, cycling four hundred kilometers across a mountain range to find a new transmitting radio—nothing seemed too difficult in her fight against the Nazis. Peter FitzSimons reveals Nancy Wake's compelling story, a tale of an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things.

Nancy Wake: The Inspiring Story of One of the War's Greatest Heroines

PETER FITZSIMONS

Biographies & Memoirs

Thorsons

Nancy Wake lived in France before WWII, and at the outbreak of war, she joined a resistance group in Marseilles and became the No 1 target on the Gestapo's most wanted list, with a five-million franc price on her head. Dubbed the White Mouse, she managed to escape and flee to England.

Nancy Wake Biography

HarperCollins Publishers (Aust

Nene King was the queen of the Australian magazine world. For over four years King increased the circulation of the Woman's Day by 400,000 sales a week. In this book bestselling biographer Peter Fitzsimons reveals the highs and lows of Nene's life as only Australia's most popular biographer can.

Nene King

HARPER/COLLINS

Nene King was the queen of the Australian magazine world. For over four years King increased the circulation of the Woman's Day by 400, 000 sales a week. In this book bestselling biographer Peter Fitzsimons reveals the highs and lows of Nene's life as only Australia's most popular biographer can.

Nene King Biography

Tobruk

In the early days of April 1941, the 14,000 Australian forces garrisoned in the Libyan town of Tobruk were told to expect reinforcements and supplies within eight weeks... Eight months later these heroic, gallant, determined 'Rats of Tobruk' were rescued by the British Navy having held the fort against the might of Rommel's never-before defeated Afrika Corps. Like Gallipoli and Kokoda, the siege of Tobruk is an iconic battle in Australia's military history. Under ceaseless attack from Rommel's men, the Australian defence held strong.

TOBRUK

History

World

Known to millions simply as 'Smithy', Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was one of Australia's true twentieth-century legends. In an era in which aviators were superstars, Smithy was among the greatest and, throughout his amazing career, his fame in Australia was matched only by that of Don Bradman. Among other achievements, Kingsford Smith was the first person to fly across the Pacific, he broke the record for the fastest flight from England to Australia, and at one point he held more long-distance flying records than anyone else on the planet. If that wasn't enough, Smithy was also a war hero, receiving the Military Cross for gallantry in action after being shot - and losing three toes during one of many flying missions during World War I. Smithy was not the lone adventurer of the skies. Early aviation drew to it a company of daredevils who all challenged gravity and fear. This comprehensive biography, written with typical flair by Peter FitzSimons, covers the triumphs and tragedies of not only Kingsford Smith's daring and controversial life but also those of his companion aviators.

Charles Kingsford Smith and Those Magnificent Men

Publishers Group UK

The Ballad of Les Darcy, a biography of the legendary Australian boxer, is the latest book from Australia's bestselling author Peter FitzSimons and is exclusive to Books Alive. It's FREE in participating bookshops when a customer buys any book from The 2007 Books Alive Great Read Guide.

The Ballad of Les Darcy

Now in trade paperback, the must-read story of the boy from Brisbane who became a wartime hero and aviation trailblazer the No 1 bestselling author of Kokoda, tobruk and Nancy Wake 'Undoubtedly the best aviation book I have ever read.' DICK SMItH SIR CHARLES KINGSFORD SMItH IS ONE OF AUStRALIA'S MOSt LOVED HEROES In an action-packed life, the indomitable 'Smithy' went from fighting as a soldier amid the carnage of Gallipoli and the Western Front to taking to the skies against the likes of the Red Baron - for which he won the Military Cross for gallantry - before becoming the greatest peacetime aviator of his generation. Along with Charles Ulm, he was the first to conquer the Pacific by air, the first to fly across the tasman Sea, the fastest to fly from England to Australia, and the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe by crossing the equator. With typical flair, FitzSimons also tells the story of several breakthroughs, some made in Australia, which laid the foundation for the Wright brothers' success in 1903; the first flight across the Channel in 1908; Germany's Red Baron terrorising the Allies in 1917-18, before being shot down by an Australian; Ross and Keith Smith's first flight from England to Australia in 1919; the formation of Qantas in 1921; Lindbergh's stunning vault between America and Europe in 1927; the Great Centenary Air Race; the loss of the Southern Cloud; the saga of Bert Hinkler and much, much, more ...'If any one man typified the Australian character at its best, with all its great qualities, as well as some of its faults, he was Charles Kingsford Smith.' StANLEY BROGDEN

'Put Les Darcy in a uniform and the men of Australia will march to hell behind him.' That was the message trained on Australia's great 'Blacksmith Boxer', as debate about conscription raged in the middle of World War I. The problem was that Les Darcy didn't want to march at the fore of such a procession, nor to such a destination. He wanted to continue what he had been doing to extraordinary acclaim before the war began - taking on the best boxers the world could throw at him, and lifting his entire family out of poverty as he did so. Torn between the duty he felt he owed his family, and the duty many felt he owed his country, Les made his choice ...and faced the consequences. And so unfolds a ballad of love, war, betrayal, mystery, patriotism and heroism; a ballad of a champion whose story still has the power to move the stoniest heart.

Sports & Outdoors

Biographies

Harpercollins Publisher

'What we have, we hold'  MOTTO OF AUSTRALIA'S 2/17TH BATTALION  In the tradition of his bestselling KOKODA, Peter FitzSimons, Australia's most beloved popular historian, returns in this deluxe illustrated edition to one of the seminal moments in Australian history: the Battle of Tobruk in 1941, in which more than 15 000 Australian troops - backed by British artillery - fought in excruciating desert heat through eight long months, against Adolf Hitler's formidable Afrika Korps.  During the dark heart of World War II, when Hitler turned his attention to conquering North Africa, a distracted and far-flung Allied force could not give its all to the defence of Libya. So the job was left to the roughest, toughest bunch that could be mustered: the Australian Imperial Force. The AIF's defence of the harbour city of Tobruk against the Afrika Korps' armoured division is not only the stuff of Australian legend, it is one of the great battles of all time, as against the might of General Rommel and his Panzers, the Australians relied on one factor in particular to give them the necessary strength against the enemy: mateship. Drawing on new and even more extensive source material - including diaries and letters, many never published before - this extraordinary book, written in Peter FitzSimons's highly readable style, and now lavishly illustrated, is the definitive account of this remarkable chapter in Australia's history.  Foreword by Manfred Rommel.

Harpercollins

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by PETER FITZSIMONS. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by PETER FITZSIMONS

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by PETER FITZSIMONS. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Nancy Wake: The Inspiring Story of One of the War's Greatest Heroines

Nancy Wake Biography

Nene King

Nene King Biography

TOBRUK

Charles Kingsford Smith and Those Magnificent Men

The Ballad of Les Darcy

Charles Kingsford Smith and Those Magnificent Men

The Ballad of Les Darcy

Tobruk