Image of cover of book The Shortest History of Australia by Mark McKenna, reviewed by Bernard Whimpress in the Newtown Review of Books.

MARK McKENNA The Shortest History of Australia. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress

by NRB | 9 July 2026 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

Mark McKenna’s short history is both broad and nuanced, demanding a new understanding of our country’s past. It’s a shame Pauline Hansen and her supporters are unlikely to read this book. If they did, they would realise that Australian history is a mass of...

Image of cover of book The Missing Piece by James O’Loghlin, reviewed by Braham Dabscheck in the Newtown Review of Books.

JAMES O’LOGHLIN The Missing Piece. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

by NRB | 8 July 2026 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

James O’Loghlin wanted to help a dying friend. He ended up running a campaign to change the law for victims of asbestos. There is something special about friends made during your formative years as a child, at school or university. Special friends know each other for...

Image of cover of book Rite of Spring by Kris Kneen, reviewed by Jessica Stewart in the Newtown Review of Books.

KRIS KNEEN Rite of Spring. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart

by NRB | 7 July 2026 | Fiction | 0 Comments

The characters in Kris Kneen’s latest novel free themselves from the constraints of gender, diving into a new world beneath the waves. Two people alone on a challenging frontier, surviving physically but also dealing with loneliness and each other’s...

Image of cover of book Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky, reviewed by Robert Goodman in the Newtown Review of Books.

ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY Green City Wars. Reviewed by Robert Goodman

by NRB | 2 July 2026 | Fiction, SFF | 0 Comments

The new novel from the award-winning author of Shroud brings together sentient animals and a noir detective story. Adrian Tchaikovsky, who in the last few years has delivered top-flight fantasy (The Tyrant Philosophers series) and science fiction (Service Model and...

Image of cover of book When the Pelican Laughed by Alice Nannup with Lauren Marsh and Stephen Kinnane, reviewed by Braham Dabscheck in the Newtown Review of Books.

ALICE NANNUP with LAUREN MARSH and STEPHEN KINNANE When the Pelican Laughed. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

by NRB | 1 July 2026 | Non-fiction | 1 Comment

Alice Nannup was taken from her Aboriginal family and set to work for little to no money. But she reckons she has had the last laugh. In 1905 Western Australia legislated the Aborigines Act, which controlled the lives of Aboriginal people. The Act created an...