Books by C.J. Ison
AVAILABLE FROM 16 OCT 2026 – Stealing 250 kg of gold was easy. Getting away with it would prove far more challenging.
In the early months of Victoria’s gold rush thieves quietly slipped aboard a ship moored in Hobson’s Bay and made off with more than 8,000 ounces (250 kg) of gold. That was no small fortune at the time and would be worth 50 million Australian dollars today.
The Nelson was only days away from sailing, and no one had thought such a robbery possible. That a gang of thieves could plan and execute such an audacious crime, then vanish into thin air, was an embarrassment to the police and the government. Both were under enormous pressure to recover the gold, punish the culprits and restore their tarnished reputations.
Fool’s Gold is a fictionalised story based largely on real people and true events. The robbery took place, the investigation unfolded, and the suspects were apprehended and tried, much as described. However, a measure of creative licence has been employed to fill in the blanks and bring this extraordinary tale to life.
A Treacherous Coast tells the fascinating stories of ten shipwrecks and maritime disasters to occur off the Queensland coast. They include: the Endeavour – 1770; the Caledonia – 1831; the Stirling Castle – 1836; the Peruvian – 1846; the Countess of Minto – 1851; the Sapphire – 1859; the Maria – 1872; the Gothenburg – 1875; the Quetta – 1890; and the Orete – 1918.
Whether through gritty determination, personal fortitude, or a measure of good luck many people lived to tell their story. A Treacherous Coast draws heavily on the first-hand accounts left by those who survived their ordeals.
Available as a paperback or Kindle eBook through Amazon
Bolters tells the stories of Australia’s most audacious attempts to escape during the convict era. Stranded on the other side of the world, a surprisingly large number of convicts dedicated their time and energy to finding a way to return home or flee to some faraway country beyond the reach of British law. From desperate attempts to seize ships under sail to embarking on long ocean voyages in small open boats, the book recounts 22 such escapes in detail and another 90 or so are covered in an appendix.
Available as a paperback or Kindle eBook through Amazon
Modern Australia has a rich and fascinating maritime heritage dating back to the early 1600s. Shipwrecks, mutinies, epic voyages into the unknown and lucky escapes from disaster all make Australia’s rich maritime history fascinating reading.
Tales from the Quarterdeck brings sixty of the blog’s most popular bite-sized maritime stories into one volume. All have been reedited, some rewritten, and a couple have been updated.
Available as a paperback or Kindle eBook through Amazon
Tales from the Quarterdeck 