Best Selling Books by DAVID HILL

A tense, exciting war adventure inspired by the coastwatchers of Operation Pacific, from award-winning author David Hill. ‘It’s not going to be a cushy job, young Benson. You’re on your own. Japs will be looking for you. Far as they’re concerned, you’re spies. And when a spy gets captured, remember . . .’ It’s 1943, and 19-year-old radio operator Frank Benson is shipped out to an enemy-occupied island in the Solomons with two other soldiers. Their mission is to spy on the Japanese. In dense jungle they meet a Solomon Islander who says he has information that will shatter Japanese defences. But he could be working for the enemy. What if it’s a trap to get them killed? No training could have prepared Frank for this decision. Their lives - and Operation Pacific - depend on his next move.

The bells stopped, so suddenly that their sound quivered in the air. For the first time in an hour, the loudspeakers spoke, but this time the words were different. ''We are about to abandon ship. All passengers proceed immediately to the starboard side. We are about to abandon ship.'' Stuart and his twin sister Sandra are coming home to Wellington on the ferry. Stuart knows he''ll enjoy the trip - he''s a good sailor. But it''s April 1968 and the ship is the Wahine. As the tragic events unwind Stuart and Sandra must battle to stay alive. A vivid and compelling picture of the Wahine''s last hours.

In 1959 David Hill’s mother – a poor single parent living in England – reluctantly decided to send her sons to Fairbridge Farm School in New South Wales where, she was led to believe, they would have a good education and a better life. David was lucky – his mother was able to follow him out to Australia – but for most children, the reality was shockingly different. From 1938 to 1974 thousands of parents were persuaded to sign over legal guardianship of their children to Fairbridge to solve the problem of child poverty in Britain while populating the colony. Now many of those children have decided to speak out. Physical and sexual abuse was not uncommon. Loneliness was rife. Food was often inedible. The standard of education was appalling. Here, for the first time, is the story of the lives of the Fairbridge children, from the bizarre luxury of the voyage out to Australia to the harsh reality of the first days there; from the crushing daily routine to stolen moments of freedom and the struggle that defined life after leaving the school. This remarkable book is both a tribute to the children who were betrayed by an ideal that went terribly awry and a compelling account of an extraordinary episode in Australian–British History.

́Australia and the British monarchy have always had a close relationship, yet they make for an odd couple: the rebellious, egalitarian nation wedded to an ancient system of social inequality. So what is the magic the royals hold over Australians? Queen Victoria was revered in Australia, even though shéd never seen the place and showed little interest in it. When her son Price Alfred visited in 1867, on the first ever royal visit of Australia, he was received rapturously, and nearly assassinated. In 1954 the country was gripped by royal fever when newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II landed on its shores; and more than sixty years later, having turned 90, she is as popular in Australia as she ever was. Not only that, but with the popularity of William, Kate, George and Charlotte burgeoning, against the odds the monarchy looks set to enter the hearts and minds of a new generation of Australians.́--Back cover.

On the afternoon of 8 April 1802, in the remote southern ocean, two explorers had a remarkable chance encounter. Englishman Matthew Flinders and Frenchman Nicolas Baudin had been sent by their governments on the same quest: to explore the uncharted coast of the great south land and find out whether the west and east coasts, four thousand kilometres apart, were part of the same island. And so began the race to compile the definitive map of Australia. These men''s journeys were the culmination of two hundred years of exploration of the region by the Dutch - most famously Abel Tasman - the Portuguese, the Spanish and by Englishmen such as the colourful pirate William Dampier and, of course, James Cook. The three-year voyages of Baudin and Flinders would see them endure terrible hardships in the spirit of discovery. They suffered scurvy and heat exhaustion, and Flinders was shipwrecked and imprisoned - always knowing he was competing with the French to produce the first map of this mysterious continent. Written from diaries and other first-hand accounts, this is the thrilling story of men whose drawings recorded countless previously unknown species and turned mythical creatures into real ones, and whose skill and determination enabled Terra Australis Incognita to become Australia.

Sent by his father on a five-day wilderness hike in the rugged New Zealand mountains, Rob and five other less-experienced teenagers must go it alone when their leader suddenly dies.

This concise volume will quickly introduce you to the Scots law of trusts - from creating a trust and appointing trustees to conflicts on interest and the termination of trusts. It also looks at the different purposes of a trust and the particular issues surrounding charities and charitable trusts.

Created especially for kids who don''t like to read, the series includes science fiction, horror, fantasy, adventure, and ghost stories-a great introduction to genre study.