Best Book Publishers UK | Austin Macauley Publishers
  • Aliens on Earth
    eBook
    Aliens on Earth
    Tony Street

    In Aliens on Earth, author Tony Street challenges the conventional narrative of human history and argues that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in ancient times, greatly influencing the development of human culture and technology. Drawing upon evidence from archaeology, mythology, and religious texts from around the world, Street presents a compelling case that advanced alien civilizations interacted with and shaped early human societies, leaving behind tantalizing clues in the form of megalithic structures, advanced technologies, and cultural traditions.From the mysterious Pyramids of Giza to the enigmatic Nazca Lines, and from the ancient Sumerian tales of the Anunnaki to the biblical accounts of the Nephilim, Street takes readers on a thrilling journey through the ancient world, revealing the hidden history of alien intervention on Earth. Thought-provoking and meticulously researched, Aliens on Earth offers a fresh perspective on the origins of human civilization that will challenge readers to question everything they have been taught about our past.

    £3.50
  • Addicted
    eBook
    Addicted
    Michael B. Miller

    Humans are biologically hardwired to alter their mental state, drugs are the pathway, and America is their biggest consumer. From antiquity to modernity, use and prohibition have gone hand in hand. Addicted raises the curtain to expose the lies and fill in the blanks behind America’s failed 50 year war on drugs and makes sense of the quagmire of misinformed laws and policy, blending Miller’s investigative journalism with historical narrative.

    In addition, Miller tells the story of nature’s three primary psychotropic plants and the history of government efforts to suppress them: Papaver Somniferum, the opium poppy, the drug of Asian mystery, which provides opium and its derivative alkaloids morphine and heroin; Erythroxylum Coca, which provides the cocaine of all night parties and glamor; and Cannabis Sativa, L., the historical intoxicant of rebellion and counterculture. These plants convert soil, water, nutrients, CO2, and light into complex chemical substances, which can elevate, intoxicate, and even heal.

    Addicted unravels the institutional mechanism that fuels the war’s self-perpetuation, its abject failure, and its deplorable byproduct of racial injustice. The stories in Addicted feature a diverse cast of heroes, villains, and bureaucrats as well as all the post-Nixon Presidents who failed in their version of the war.

    £3.50
  • The Black Ships
    eBook
    The Black Ships
    Jonathon Fairall

    Three men; three voyages; one century. This book is about the beginning of the modern global order which was created around 1500 in one of the most marginal countries in Europe. The Black Ships were the engines of the voyages of discovery, which linked Europe to Asia for the first time. The brutal men who sailed these ships were excited by neither the search for unknown lands nor by scientific curiosity, but by the deadly contest between Christian and Muslim that consumed Europe for nearly a thousand years. The men of Portugal determined that they would engage in the greatest and final crusade: to rid the world of Islam. To do so, they forged new technologies that enabled them to cross oceans. They never quite achieved their aims. But they changed the world.

    £3.50
  • The Conduit
    eBook
    The Conduit
    David L Dobby

    This book was conceived to establish a relationship between Freemasonry and the foundation of golf clubs, but my research became much extended, causing me to examine the influence of the military in relation to both. It is well known that both Freemasonry and golf have expanded their tentacles to most parts of the world, and it is the military who have provided the conduit for this expansion. It is to them that we owe the dissemination of golf and Freemasonry around the world. The book covers the history of both over a 300-year period from 1600 to 1900. It was remarkable how often the same names appeared in all three disciplines. Without doubt a relationship has been established and long may it continue.

    £3.50
  • Thunder over the Desert
    eBook
    Thunder over the Desert
    Peter Mageros

    Filmmakers and footsloggers!

    It’s not often you hear these two words together, but they perfectly capture the story of Australia’s film industry revealed in this compelling book. Since the early 20th century, Australia’s local screen industry has fought a fierce battle against the overwhelming dominance of Hollywood, striving to keep homegrown feature films on Australian cinema screens.

    This is a story of resilience and cultural pride, where the struggles of the nation’s filmmakers have been metaphorically aligned with the heroic narrative of the Anzac soldier. Much like the first Anzacs at Gallipoli – heroes even in the face of devastating defeat – Australia’s cinema has a celebrated history of seeing itself as valiant, even when the odds were stacked against it.

    Peter Mageros delves into the deep historical connections between myth and cinema, exploring how filmmakers such as Longford, Chauvel, Weir, and Beresford have drawn inspiration from the iconic images of the Diggers on screen. The book reveals how the theme of the ‘heroic film industry’ persists in contemporary times, with Australian filmmakers portrayed as ‘going into the trenches’ alongside the legendary soldiers.

    This is a story of true heroism – not always one of triumphant conquest, but of unwavering determination to protect and preserve a uniquely Australian cinematic voice.

    £3.50
  • Reimagine Hong Kong
    eBook
    Reimagine Hong Kong
    Jia Jia

    CO-CREATING HONG KONG In Reimagine Hong Kong, Jia Jia explores the cultural identity of China’s special administrative region, which began to emerge in the mid-twentieth century during its time as a British colony. His critique delves into the contradictions and dichotomies that have defined Hong Kong, weaving together history, philosophy, sociology, and economics. Jia Jia believes it is time to take a long, reflective look at his hometown, two and a half decades after its return to China. He started writing this memoir during the last wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. His analysis of real estate, urbanism, popular culture, linguistics, literature, and food culture offers a unique and thought-provoking perspective on the global financial centre’s past, present, and future. Reimagine Hong Kong addresses three fundamental questions: Does Hong Kong have an “identity crisis”? Why has it been labelled a “cultural desert”? Has Hong Kong fostered its own “meaninglessness” and “tastelessness”? This compelling thesis reimagines the metropolis “from a distance” while addressing global universal issues through its local culture. The author takes readers on an unforgettable journey from London’s theatres to New York’s skyscrapers, Tokyo’s nano homes, and back to vernacular heritage architecture, neon signs, and tea restaurants, alongside various social phenomena. This anthology is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the unprecedented conflicts from the early twenty-first century, shaped by geopolitics and ideologies, including the “woke” movement.’ Accompanied by a captivating photograph by Wong Wei-him, each chapter serves as a study on the cross-cultural impacts of the digital revolution, postmodernity, postcolonialism, and late capitalism on social structure, human behaviour, aesthetics, and taste. Jia Jia concludes by reflecting on futurism and posthumanism.

    £3.50
  • Kissed by Two Kings
    eBook
    Kissed by Two Kings
    John Mark Benbow Rowe

    “Youth, beauty, and intellectual vivacity seem to live upon the canvas, in their freshness of gaiety and fashion, and of joyous health.” Such was the reaction to Sir Thomas Lawrence’s painting of the ‘Beautiful Miss Croker’. This was a classic Regency-era portrait. Who was she?


    Dive into the fascinating story of “Miss Croker”. Kissed by Two Kings and a playmate to a future queen, Rosamund Croker personified the young, fashionable set in the Regency world captured by author Jane Austen. Glittering balls, palaces, prime ministers, politicians, and even the Duke of Wellington were part of the debutante’s life!


    Becoming Lady Barrow, she kept her social connections while embracing the Victorian world of Charles Dickens, spreading the love of God, helping the poor, helping build a church, and founding a cottage hospital. This is the story of a woman who lived through five reigns and made a difference to society, all arguably stemming from a portrait painted when she was 17 years old!

    £3.50
  • One Family’s Journey Through Ten Centuries - Book 2
    eBook
    One Family’s Journey Through Ten Centuries - Book 2
    William Lilly

    King Charles I did not know that his queen’s lady-in-waiting was having an affair with John Pym, an important parliamentarian of the day. She kept Pym well informed about what the king was up to. When the king fell out with Parliament over money, Pym had Charles followed, matters descended and the king ended up under arrest at Carisbrooke Castle, where he got stuck in a window while trying to escape. He was extricated, transported to London, and beheaded. With him no longer available to hand out under-the-table government contracts to his favourite knights, feudalism died on the vine, and the middle class became firmly in control.

                                                                             

    Oliver Cromwell was chosen to take King Charles’ place. He didn’t like Catholics, and most Irish were Catholic. And so, he stole their land, forbade their religion, and reduced them to abject poverty. They tried to live on potatoes. But in the 1830s the potato crop was very bad, and by the mid-1840s it was struck by a blight that reduced the potato to a rotten mush. Two million starving, penniless, and diseased Irish peasants fled to a tiny village of 2,400 mainly native Indians. These Torontonians took them in and cared for them, and they all then set about building a mighty industrial complex, stealthily under the nose of the Americans. One of these was a transcontinental railway of steel trains that would stretch from sea to sea, climb steep mountains, and cross deep gorges; that would transport immigrants from Europe in the thousands to settle in four new western provinces, and in 1867 unite the land masses to formally create the Dominion of Canada.


    But they left the power to declare war with a few mind-midgets whom they called hereditary monarchs, and then allowed that power to be grabbed by an evil madman who, allowed free reign, almost completely destroyed the progress of nearly 400 years, and laid nearly one hundred million of the Middle Class in early graves.

    £3.50
  • Prevention Is Better than Cure
    eBook
    Prevention Is Better than Cure
    John K Lander

    When the Band of Hope was established in Leeds in 1847, its aim was to convince children that alcohol consumption would damage their health and life chances. Membership was confirmed through the signing of a teetotal pledge that required parental consent. The movement’s founders could not possibly have envisaged the extent of its impressive growth throughout the United Kingdom, with particular strengths in northern England counties. Immediately before the start of the First World War in 1914, membership reached 3.7 million spread among over 33,000 societies.


    Being closely linked to church Sunday Schools, when numbers of scholars declined, Band of Hope membership also fell. The huge numbers of wartime deaths and serious injuries, and the consequent loss of many former volunteers, exacerbated the membership decline. That decrease accelerated through the latter decades of the 20th century, despite strenuous efforts by countless dedicated people.


    A reconstituted organisation named Hope UK was established in 1995, which continues to work tirelessly with young people on alcohol and drug prevention.

    £3.50
  • The Extra Ordinary Women of Britain
    eBook
    The Extra Ordinary Women of Britain
    Peter Hunt

    Britain has a hidden wealth of fascinating and important women peppered throughout its history, perhaps more than any other European nation. This book is an introduction to thirty-seven British women whom I believe are truly exceptional and, since the 1st century AD, their lives have dramatically influenced British history and culture.


    You will know some of them, but you may not know others. This is an introduction to them and it also includes a list of other women that you will find worthy of your own research. Please note, however, that each of these chapters is an introduction and you may wish to read more about them yourselves.


    This book is a sequel to my book The Extra Ordinary Women of France. Both books were inspired by a visit I took some years ago to the Panthéon in Paris, the mausoleum for the interment of famous men and women of France. There were 81 people interred there of which only 6 were women. Hence, the idea for both these books.


    I know you will find them fascinating.


    They should be available from booksellers and from Amazon.

    £3.50
  • Requiem for the Australian Dream
    eBook
    Requiem for the Australian Dream
    Sergio Famiano

    ‘Requiem for the Australian Dream’ examines the origins of the Australian Dream and its importance to Australian society. Under the Robert Menzies government, the ‘Australian Dream’ became the measure of a mature society, built on the collective values of the ‘fair go’ and the notion that no one will be left behind. Menzies likened it to ‘the greatest expression of democracy is when a man and his family own their own home’. During his tenure as Prime Minister from 1949 to 1966, home ownership would become the cornerstone of his ‘emerging middle class of ‘little capitalists’. He believed if Australians were happy and content, they would not stray to communism, which was gripping the world at the time. At just 50.3% in 1945, home ownership would peak in 1966 at a staggering 72%. The book examines the economic and political factors which made home ownership obtainable in Australia during this ‘golden era’ and then what happened to turn the dream into a nightmare.


    From the turbulent 1970s to the 1990s – the final years when housing was affordable in Australia – the book takes you on a journey that identifies the key political, economic and societal decisions which conspire to end the Australian Dream of home ownership for so many. Starting with the Whitlam years and moving to the Hawke, Keating and Howard prime ministerships, we witness the rise of neoliberalism and globalisation and their erosion of wages and employment stability for the majority. Labour reforms, the rise of negative gearing, and the deregulation of the banking industry will all play a role in turning the dream. Other monumental changes, such as Howard’s capital gains reform, will be examined, particularly when combined with negative gearing, which would supercharge property investment from 2000 onwards.


    The 2000s, which promised to be a period of safety and stability with the ‘Cold War’ at an end, would prove to be a powder keg of conflict and uncertainty that would drive government decisions and economic policy that would turn against housing affordability. Existential factors such as the September 11 attacks, the war on terror and the global financial crisis and their influence on monetary policy in Australia would create ‘cheap credit’ that would incentivise a property boom that would last for 23 years. The rise of China and immigration into Australia would put pressure on town planning and housing supply, which would fuel property price growth. The 1-in-100-year event of COVID-19 would prove to be the last nail in the coffin for the crisis, causing an unparalleled rise in the cost of housing construction, resulting in a reduced housing supply and record bankruptcy of builders. Collectively these factors, combined with political blunders, would define the crisis that we have today.


    The final chapters will examine 8 key initiatives to solve the housing crisis and how housing affordability and the dream of home ownership can be restored to future generations. We reflect on what Australia looks like in 2050 if the crisis continues and examine the importance of home ownership to the future of Australia’s society and democracy. A must-read if you are interested in the housing issue.

    £3.50

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