Read the transcripts of Malcolm Turnbull’s speech at the launch of The ADB’s Story and Gareth Evans’s speech at the launch of Barry Jones’s Dictionary of World Biography. Both books were published this year by the National Centre of Biography in association with ANU Press. We also discuss the obituaries of the first two servicemen killed in World War I and a new online project being developed by the NCB which will enable users to retrace the paths of explorers in an innovative way.