Michael Molkentin. Flying the Southern Cross: Aviators Charles Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2012. Molkentin's first book, Fire in the Sky, was an excellent history of the Australian Flying Corps; and this one looks promising too (not to mention the two he's got planned, and he's still got a PhD to finish!) He seems to have the knack for writing accessible history informed by solid research. This one is profusely illustrated too, and focuses on the epic 1928 trans-Pacific flight by Ulm (whose logbook features heavily) and Kingsford Smith.

David Stevenson. With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918. London: Penguin, 2012. I've had 1918 on the brain recently, so buying this was a, um, no-brainer. There are at least two things to like here: that by looking at the whole year it will become apparent that the 'Year of Victory' didn't look that way for most of it; and that it's not only or even mostly a battle narrative, but also looks at 1918 in its other aspects such as the naval war and the home fronts.

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