Did you know that the Library has a huge range of free nonfiction ebooks – 12,000 and counting! – which you can either read online or download for up to seven days?
To get started, browse our latest selection of ebooks and watch this space for new additions. You can also scan the list of past Ebookshelf titles or browse for even more free ebooks !
To access ebooks from home, you need to be a Victorian resident with a current State Library card . (Terms and conditions of use apply.)
Courage in the skies: The untold story of Qantas, its brave men and women and their extraordinary role in World War II Courage in the skies: The untold story of Qantas, its brave men and women and their extraordinary role in World War II Jim Eames
Courage in the skies is the remarkable story of Qantas at war during WWII, sharing the heroic deeds of the airline's crew and ground staff.
Flying unarmed planes through war zones and at times under enemy fire, the airline supplied the front lines, evacuated the wounded and undertook surprising escapes, including carrying more than 40 civilians on the last aircraft to leave besieged Singapore.
Absorbing, spirited and fast-paced, this is the story of an extraordinary group of Australians who confronted the dark days of WWII with bravery, commitment and initiative.
Total propaganda: Basic Marxist brainwashing for the angry and the young Total propaganda: Basic Marxist brainwashing for the angry and the young Helen Razer
Millennials have it bad. They face the problems of underemployment, unaffordable housing and economists writing desperate columns saying everything would work better, if only we stopped eating sandwiches.
Karl Marx may not have had much to say about brunch in the 21st century, but he sure had some powerful thoughts about where the system of capitalism would land us. Over time, it would produce a series of crises and a top-heavy system that could come crashing down with a nudge.
Pushy old communist Helen Razer offers an introduction to the thoughts of Marx for Millennials, and anyone else tired of wage stagnation and growing global poverty.
Breaking out: Memories of Melbourne in the 1970s Breaking out: Memories of Melbourne in the 1970s Susan Blackburn (ed)
Breaking out celebrates Melbourne in the 1970s, a heady time of turbulence that stretched far beyond the Whitlam era and the level of national government.
Sixteen contributors remember their roles in this vibrant and creative decade when anything seemed possible, and alternative approaches sprang up for everything from education to radio broadcasting, theatre and legal services to suburban living.
Starting with the massive opposition to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and ending with efforts to combat its role in East Timor, contributors also recall the protests against environment policies and the administration of universities.
Chinese market gardening in Australia and New Zealand: Gardens of prosperity Chinese market gardening in Australia and New Zealand: Gardens of prosperity Joanna Boileau
This book offers a fresh perspective on the Chinese diaspora, highlighting the mobility of migrants as an essential element in the adaptation of technologies.
Truly multidisciplinary, it incorporates elements of economic, agricultural, social and cultural history to document how market gardeners from subtropical southern China adapted their horticultural techniques to novel environments and the demands of European consumers.
The text also shows how they developed flexible strategies to cope with the vagaries of climate and social environments that were often hostile towards Asian immigrants.
The evolution of money David Orrell and Roman Chlupaty
The sharing economy's unique customer-to-company exchange is possible because of money's elastic nature and the way in which it has evolved.
The evolution of money illuminates the fascinating reality of virtual money and its cooperative potential, focusing on the tension between currency's real and abstract properties.
From the debt tablets of Mesopotamia to the coins of ancient Greece and Rome, the gold-backed currencies of medieval Europe to monetary economics in Victorian England, the book also covers the digital era and anticipates money's next, transformative role.
A field guide to spiders of Australia A field guide to spiders of Australia Robert Whyte and Greg Anderson
Australians have a love–hate relationship with spiders. Some spiders, such as the redback and the Sydney funnelweb, inspire fear. Yet peacock spiders, with their colourful fan-spreading courtship dances, have won rapturous appreciation worldwide.
Featuring over 1300 colour photographs of living specimens to help identify many of the spiders we encounter, this is the most comprehensive account of Australian spiders ever published.
With more than two-thirds of Australian spiders yet to be scientifically described, it sets the scene for future explorations of our extraordinary Australian fauna.
Great Australian scams, cons and rorts: A book of dodgy schemes and crazy dreams from the bush to the city Great Australian scams, cons and rorts: A book of dodgy schemes and crazy dreams from the bush to the city Jim Haynes
Australia is the birthplace and setting of some of the wildest, craziest and least-likely-to-succeed cons and rorts in history.
Like the clever bushman who stole a thousand head of cattle and got away with it, despite being caught 'red handed'. The disappearing work of art that suddenly dissolved, only to reappear at an auction years later. Or the butcher from Wagga who passed himself off as a French-born English duke to inherit a small fortune.
From the cleverest double-crosses to the most unlikely and maddest schemes, master storyteller Jim Haynes has collected a veritable 'Gullible's Tales' of unexpected and surprising true stories that defy belief.
Big blue sky: A memoir Peter Garrett
Peter Garrett's life has been fully and passionately lived. A man of boundless energy, compassion, intelligence and creativity, he has already achieved enough to fill several lives.
From his early interest in equality and justice to fronting iconic Australian band Midnight Oil, from his time as a galvanising activist for the environment to being the only unaligned Cabinet minister in two Labor governments, he has an extraordinary story to tell.
Provocative, entertaining, impassioned and inspiring, this memoir goes to the heart and soul of a remarkable Australian and raises questions crucial to us all.
Deep time dreaming: Uncovering ancient Australia Deep time dreaming: Uncovering ancient Australia Billy Griffiths
When Billy Griffiths joined his first archaeological dig as camp manager and cook, he was hooked. Equipped with a historian's enquiring mind, he embarked on a journey through time, seeking to understand the extraordinary deep history of the Australian continent.
Deep time dreaming is the passionate product of that journey. It investigates reassertion of Aboriginal identity in the second half of the 20th century, and the uncovering of the traces of ancient Australia.
The book also explores what it means to live in a place of great antiquity, with its complex questions of ownership and belonging.
Generation less: How Australia is cheating the young Generation less: How Australia is cheating the young Jennifer Rayner
Urgent and convincing, Generation less investigates the life prospects of today's young Australians, the first generation since the Great Depression to be worse off than their parents.
Rayner's book looks at the emotional life of this generation, their access to credit, education and fulfilling jobs, and considers whether they will ever be able to buy their own home.
A wake-up call for young and old alike, the book is a smart, funny and ground-breaking blueprint for a fairer future.
Ctrl+Z: The right to be forgotten Ctrl+Z: The right to be forgotten Meg Leta Jones
Ctrl+Z provides a gripping insight into the digital debate over data ownership, permanence and policy.
Data about us is shared, analysed and processed at an overwhelming scale. The damage caused can be severe, potentially affecting relationships, employment and academic success. A possible solution would be the digital right to be forgotten.
By looking at new theories of privacy, law and technology scholar Meg Leta Jones argues that the right to be forgotten can be innovative, liberating and globally viable.
Australian Rules football during the First World War Australian Rules football during the First World War Dale Blair and Rob Hess
This book explores the intersection between the Great War and patriotism through an examination of the effects of both on Australia's most popular football code.
Chronologically structured, the work shines a light on a much-ignored period in Australian Rules football history, when the code was subject to much upheaval and reflected society's class divisions.
A century on, the Australian Football League presents past soldier footballers as unequivocal representatives of a unifying national 'Anzac' spirit. As this book points out, the myth is far from the reality of football's WWI experience.
Eyewitnesses at the Somme: A muddy and bloody campaign 1916–1918 Eyewitnesses at the Somme: A muddy and bloody campaign 1916–1918 Tim Cook
Based on eyewitness accounts, this book traces the story of the 55th Australian Infantry Battallion, from its birth in the dusty camps of Egypt through three years of brutal, bloody conflict on the bitter Western Front.
When the Great War ended in 1918, over 500 of the 3000 men who served in the 55th had been slain and another 1000 wounded.
With chapters devoted to the significant battles at Fromelles, Doignies, Polygon Wood, Peronne and Bellicourt, the book tells the story of one battalion, but in doing so it encapsulates the experiences of many Australian soldiers on the Western Front.
In sickness, in health ... and in jail: What happened when my husband unexpectedly went to prison for two years In sickness, in health ... and in jail: What happened when my husband unexpectedly went to prison for two years Mel Jacob
After 14 years of marriage, Mel Jacob's life looked as perfect as the roses flowering above her white picket fence. Until her life took an unexpected detour when her seemingly saintly husband was jailed for two years.
This book follows Mel's funny, moving and insightful journey through grief, love and forgiveness as she navigates single parenthood, prison visitations and nosy neighbours.
Her revealing account chronicles the heartache, the stigma and the conversational minefields of her husband's whereabouts.
Life at the edge of sight: A photographic exploration of the microbial world Life at the edge of sight: A photographic exploration of the microbial world Scott Chimileski and Roberto Kolter
Microbial studies have clarified life's origins on earth, explained the functioning of ecosystems, and improved both crop yields and human health.
This stunning photographic essay opens a new frontier for readers to explore through words and images.
Scott Chimileski and Roberto Kolter are expert guides to an invisible world waiting in plain sight.
From goodwill to grunge: A history of secondhand styles and alternative economies From goodwill to grunge: A history of secondhand styles and alternative economies Jennifer Le Zotte
In this surprising new look at how clothing, style and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales came to be both profitable and culturally influential.
Le Zotte traces the origins and meanings of 'secondhand style' and explores how buying pre-owned goods went from a signifier of poverty to a declaration of rebellion.
She shows how artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.
