Caroline Ford, Sydney Beaches: A History, NewSouth books

Well, it's almost a wrap for the Dictionary for 2014 and what a year it has been! We've moved office, upgraded and transferred our IT systems, created our first walking app and published over 60 new entries for you, our readers, to enjoy. Not to mention the 52 blog posts from our weekly breakfast spot on 2SER radio. If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for our newsletters to get the full news on all that is new to the Dictionary in 2015. It's become a recent tradition to end the year with some summer reading recommendations. In 2013, our volunteer historian and researcher, Catie Gilchrist, tipped Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia by David Hunt to be the best read of the year and she was spot on with the book winning the 2014 Indie Award for Non-Fiction. David wasn't the only winner tipped in our 2013 reading list: long-time Dictionary volunteer Garry Wotherspoon's The Sydney Mechanics School of Arts: A History, was shortlisted in the 2014 NSW Premier's History Awards alongside fellow Dictionary author, historian Ian Hoskin. Ian took out the NSW Premier's Prize for Community and Regional History for his book, Coast: A History of the New South Wales Edge. So here are our 2014 summer reading suggestions:

Alasdair McGregor, A Forger's Progress, NewSouth Books

Alasdair McGregor, A Forger's Progress: The Life of Francis Greenway, NewSouth books

As Australia's first government architect, Francis Greenway has left an enduring legacy in Sydney. Sentenced to death for forgery, than granted a last minute reprieve, he was transported to NSW in 1814. Under the patronage of Governor Macquarie he was responsible for designing Hyde Park Barracks, St James' Church, the first Supreme Court and the courthouse at Windsor, amongst other achievements. Both bonkers and brilliant, this is a fascinating insight into a very complex man. He was also pivotal in the transition from Sydney as a 'penal colony' to a society of respectable free settlers.

Babette Smith, The Luck of the Irish: How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck of the Hive to Make a New Life in Australia, Allen and Unwin

The convict ship Hive sank off the NSW coast in 1835 with 250 Irish convicts on board. Luckily for them, 'the luck' of the Irish was with them, and they all survived. Rather than cast the Irish in Sydney as second class citizens, this book instead reveals that many Irish men from the Hive found Sydney a place of opportunity, re-invention and new beginnings.

Babette Smith, The Luck of the Irish, Allen and Unwin

Raden Dunbar, The Secrets of the ANZACs: The Untold Story of Venereal Disease in the Australian Army, 1914­–1919, Scribe

Sex, scandal, the debunking of the ANZAC Legend  – what is not to like? Many returned, infected, ANZACs were immediately whisked off to the Randwick Hospital, away from the public gaze, when they returned home. These ANZAC 'heros' do not belong in the ANZAC Legend and their stories have not been acknowledged for almost a century. This is a story which reveals their reality. It is also a story of morality, shame, sex education and the official recognition that prophylactics be distributed amongst Australia's first AIF. Fascinating indeed.

Caroline Ford, Sydney Beaches: A History, NewSouth books

Today we take going to the beach for a swim or a 'bake' for granted. This, readers might be surprised to know, was not always the case. This glorious book charts the intriguing story about how the right to sun bathe, wear beach attire, and still be seen to be behaving 'respectably', had to be fought for almost over a century. An excellent and fascinating book that all beach lovers (or even all Sydneysiders) should read this summer.

Raden Dunbar, The Secrets of the Anzacs, Scribe

Caroline Overington, Last Woman Hanged, HarperCollins

Louisa Collins was the last woman hanged in New South Wales. Accused of poisoning two husbands with rat poisoning – the second of which was married soon after the death of her first – this book is horribly fascinating (including grave digging and post-buriel post-mortems) but also illuminates how there was a precursor to the more well-known thallium poisonings by women in Newtown and other areas of Sydney in the 1950s. But it leaves the reader wondering – Why did this mother of six not defend herself (or get a lawyer to) in court against the charges? Both morbid and moreish (if that's possible) Other titles Catie recommends are: David Hill, The Making of Australia, Random House; Rob Mundle, The First Fleet, HarperCollins; John Maynard, True Light and Shade: An Aboriginal Perspective of Joseph Lycett's Art, NLA Publishing; Thomas Keneally, Australians: Volume 3 - Flappers to Vietnam, Allen and Unwin; and Don Watson, The Bush, Penguin Books Australia Thanks Catie! But wait! There's more to read this summer: Don't forget The People’s Park: Centennial Park – A History, co-authored by Dictionary board member, Paul Aston with Armanda Scorrano and Kate Blackmore. There's also a free history walk of Centennial Park you can download and enjoy. For the inaugural Dictionary, Mary Lightfoot contributed a piece on Louise Lightfoot - Dancer, "An architect who remade herself as a dancer and remade Sydney dance culture in the process." Mary has now published part 1 of her biography, Lightfoot Dancing: An Australian-Indian Affair as an e-book on amazon au.

The Smile Revolution In Eighteenth Century Paris

And while Kim has been too busy to get to it this year, The Smile Revolution in Eighteenth Century Paris by Colin Jones is on his summer reading list. It sounds like a great piece of cultural history. Who would have thought that French society only learned the art of smiling so late? Enjoy your summer reading! We have lots to share with you in 2015 so stay tuned!