DAVID HUNT Girt Nation: The unauthorised history of Australia volume 3. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Like its predecessors Girt and True Girt, David Hunt’s third volume is a riotous romp through Australian history. Covering the late 19th century in the lead up to Federation, Girt Nation brings the makers and shapers of our country to not-so-glorious life as it notes...
DAVID SCRIMGEOUR Remote As Ever: The Aboriginal struggle for autonomy in the Western Desert. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
David Scrimgeour charts local successes and government failures for Aboriginal people in the Western Desert. While there has been a growing awareness over recent decades, it would still be reasonable to suggest that most non-Indigenous Australians have only limited...
DAMIEN LEWIS The Flame of Resistance: The untold story of Josephine Baker’s secret war. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Josephine Baker, the most glamorous and highly paid female entertainer of her time, was also an Allied spy in World War II. In The Flame of Resistance Damien Lewis has drawn on a profusion of new historical material, including previously undisclosed letters and...
ESTHER WOOLFSON Corvus: A life with birds. Reviewed by Ann Skea
First published in 2008, Esther Woolfson’s Corvus is part memoir, part natural history, and conveys her fascination with the birds living in her home. As I write, the bird is behind me on her branch. From time to time she mutters, a sound softly bearing the imprint of...
JULIANNE SCHULTZ The Idea of Australia: A search for the soul of the nation. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Julianne Schultz finds difficult truths – and some hope – in her examination of the Australian psyche. Is it a good thing to be racist? For one group of people to believe they are superior to others and to act accordingly in the name of creating a ‘perfect society’?...
FRANK BONGIORNO Dreamers and Schemers: A political history of Australia. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Dreamers and Schemers provides an expert overview of Australia’s political history. There is always a place for big history such as this. Near the end of his introduction, author Frank Bongiorno outlines his approach: The book begins in deep time, among Indigenous...
COLM TOIBIN A Guest at the Feast. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
The author of The Magician is also a skilled essayist, ranging across the personal, religion, and literature. In the first essay in this collection, ‘Cancer: My Part in Its Downfall’, Colm Toibin describes being diagnosed with testicular cancer. At first he ignores...
DEBORAH LEVY The Cost of Living. Reviewed by Anna Verney
In this month’s Flashback Friday, Anna Verney assesses Deborah Levy’s 2018 memoir The Cost of Living. As readers of South African-born British writer Deborah Levy’s literary fiction will know, it always has an unsettlingly allusive quality. While grounded...
SARAH E BRADDOCK CLARKE and RYOKO YAMANAKA KONDO (Eds) Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads. Reviewed by Ann Skea
This sumptuous book is richly illustrated and almost as carefully crafted as the Byzantine silk of its title. Editor Sarah Braddock Clarke describes Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads as an ‘academic book’, yet there is much to interest and delight a general reader like...
NRB readers’ favourite reviews of 2022
Which of our reviews this year did you enjoy the most? We’ve run the numbers to discover our top ten reviews of 2022 based on reader views. Are any of your favourites among them? Or perhaps on your TBR pile? (A TBR pile is a wonderful thing – there’s...
LARA FEIGEL Look! We Have Come Through! Reviewed by Ann Skea
DH Lawrence as life coach? Lara Feigel’s examination of the writer’s life and work has a personal application. First, a confession. While I enjoy some of DH Lawrence’s poetry, I have never warmed to his novels. I have a cherished memory of a university lecturer...
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