SIMON JAMES COPLAND The Male Complaint: The manosphere and misogyny online. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Why are lonely men drawn to online misogyny? Australian sociologist Simon James Copland explores this disturbing phenomenon. This book seeks to understand lonely and alienated men and their use of social media, as well as their impact on broader society, especially...
HUGH WHITE Hard New World: Our post-American future. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Can Australia pursue a defence strategy independent of the United States? Hugh White presents a compelling case to do so. In this Quarterly Essay, Hugh White is hoping to influence the politicians and advisors who make strategic decisions concerning Australia’s...
AC GRAYLING Discriminations: Making peace in the culture wars. Reviewed by Ann Skea
At a time when ‘woke’ has become a term of abuse, AC Grayling argues that respect for human rights needs to be the basis of open debate. ‘Wokeism’ and ‘cancel culture’ became terms of war – culture war – in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The war...
BARRY DILLER Who Knew. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
Barry Diller has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment in a career spanning Paramount, Fox and now his own media company. Serendipity, that variation on the idea of a happy accident or unexpected good fortune, is elevated to something of a theme in...
LYNNE OLSON The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Lynne Olson documents how, within the horror of a Nazi concentration camp, the women of the French Resistance continued to resist. In Paris, the granddaughter of Jacqueline Péry d’Alincourt remembers her grandmother entertaining three old friends to afternoon tea....
SARAH GILBERT Unconventional Women: The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Sarah Gilbert’s account of this religious order offers a rare insight into the women who chose to separate themselves from the world. In the 1950s and 60s, eight young women left their families to join an enclosed order of nuns in Melbourne. Gilbert’s book...
ANNE SEBBA The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. Reviewed by Justine Ettler
British historian Anne Sebba’s account of the Nazi death camp describes the dissonance of beautiful music in a place of suffering and death. A monstrous, life-and-death version of sing for your supper, The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz fascinates as it horrifies with...
CHRISTOPHER CLAREY The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and his kingdom of clay. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
The French Open may be over for another year, but Roland-Garros will always belong to Rafael Nadal, its all-time champion. Rafael Nadal will always be regarded as one of tennis’s greatest players. He turned professional in 2001, aged 14, and retired in 2024. He won 92...
LAURIE WOOLEVER Care and Feeding: A memoir. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Laurie Woolever – cook, writer, and fixer for chef Anthony Bourdain – enjoyed the glamour of a celebrity lifestyle. But it came with a price. Laurie Woolever’s memoir opens with an introduction noting that none of us has very much control over anything in life,...
PHIL CRAIG 1945: The Reckoning. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
This conclusion to Phil Craig’s Finest Hour trilogy shows how, far from marking an end to war and suffering, 1945 created more of it. The world is imperfect, the relationships between and within nations held together by decaying, infected band aids and fraying string....
FAITH TIBBLE The Crown of Thorns. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Historian Faith Tibble examines the origin of one of the most famous images in the Christian world and how it changed over the centuries. Almost everyone, whether they are Christian or not, is familiar with the image of Jesus on the cross, his head bound with a...
Recent Posts
MARK McKENNA The Shortest History of Australia. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress9 July 2026Mark McKenna’s short history is both broad and nuanced, demanding a new [ … ]
JAMES O’LOGHLIN The Missing Piece. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck8 July 2026James O’Loghlin wanted to help a dying friend. He ended up running a campaign [ … ]
KRIS KNEEN Rite of Spring. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart7 July 2026The characters in Kris Kneen’s latest novel free themselves from the [ … ]
ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY Green City Wars. Reviewed by Robert Goodman2 July 2026The new novel from the award-winning author of Shroud brings together sentient [ … ]