Bookseller and Publisher reports that CRACK HARDY was the most commented on new book in the Australian press during the Easter weekend.

Meanwhile, CRACK HARDY has hit the charts at number 10 on Random House Australia’s bestseller list, and number 3 on its list of bestsellers by Australian authors.

Glowing reviews continue to roll in for CRACK HARDY. Professor Ross Fitzgerald, writing in Spectrum in the Sydney Morning Herald, describes it as ‘a fine and important book,’ and ‘deeply moving.’

In the Weekly Times, Andrew Mole characterizes CRACK HARDY as ‘the most remarkable, most human, and most fragile record of the birth of the Anzac.’

Such reviews mirror the view of Professor Bill Gammage of ANU, who, at the Australian national launch in Canberra on April 14, said of CRACK HARDY: ‘It is an epic. To be memorable, an epic needs powerful writing, and here it is.’

For more detailed excerpts from the latest reviews go to the ‘Crack Hardy’ page in the ‘Books’ section of this website.

Meanwhile, Stephen’s blogs are now appearing on the Random House Australia website.

And, large print and braille editions of CRACK HARDY are now available from Read How You Want online.

CRACK HARDY BLOG AND 7.30 REPORT

The web manager reports that visits to this site have shown a massive increase this month, as Crack Hardy is released in Australia and New Zealand and Legions of Rome continues its sales march at record levels in the UK, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.

One of the reasons for the huge interest in Crack Hardy has been the fact that Stephen is in demand for interviews across Australia with media personalities including Richard Fidler, Fran Kelly, Howard Sattler and Eoin Cameron.

Catch a report about Crack Hardy and the Searle brothers on ABC-TV’s ‘7.30′ program across Australia on the evening of Anzac Day, April 25.

And, commencing late April, Stephen is guest blogger for 5 days on the Random House Australia website. Check out his daily blogs; what he has to say will be thought-provoking and eye-opening.

GREAT FIRE OF ROME SPREADS TO THE SPANISH WORLD

The Spanish language rights to Stephen’s Great Fire of Rome, published late last year in the US and UK by Da Capo Press, have been acquired by the Planeta Group’s Editorial Ariel for publication in Spain and Latin America next year.

‘CRACK HARDY: From Gallipoli to Flanders to the Somme, the true story of three Australian brothers at war’, Stephen’s already acclaimed World War One memoir was released in Australia and New Zealand on April 1. Independent bookstores are already reporting they’ve sold out and have hurriedly reordered.

April 13 – Hear Stephen talking about Crack Hardy on Richard Fidler’s ‘Conversations’ program on ABC Local Radio across Australia.

April 14 – At 6.00 pm, the national launch of Crack Hardy in Canberra by Professor Bill Gammage of the Australian National University. To attend, call Meredith at Daltons Books, Canberra. You can also hear Stephen talking with Mark Parton on 2CC Canberra that morning.

April 15 -12.30 pm,  Stephen will be talking about Crack Hardy at Berlelouw Books Dee Why, in Sydney. All welcome.

April 20 – 6.00 pm, the Tasmanian launch of Crack Hardy, by Richard Mulvaney, Director of the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, at the Westbury RSL, in Westbury. All welcome.