DAVID MARR Killing for country: A family story. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
David Marr’s account of his ancestors’ involvement with the Native Police and the murder of Aboriginal people is distressing and important. Several years ago, one of David Marr’s older relatives informed him that his great-great-grandfather Reginald...
KATE FULLAGAR Bennelong and Phillip: A history unravelled. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Kate Fullagar puts the lives of Wangal man Bennelong and Governor Arthur Phillip into a larger context beyond the brief years they spent together. What we regard as the modern history of Australia commenced with Britain establishing a colony in New South Wales in...
TIM FLANNERY and EMMA FLANNERY Big Meg. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
From the ancient megalodon to Jaws, Big Meg feeds our fascination with huge and dangerous marine creatures. I was fascinated by the prospect of Big Meg: The story of the largest and most mysterious predator that ever lived, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I...
CHRIS MASTERS Flawed Hero: Truth, lies and war crimes. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
In this account of Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case, Chris Masters also examines the mental health challenges faced by veterans. Let us begin with the proposition that war is madness, and explore it through the lens of a particular soldier named Ben Roberts-Smith....
ANNA FUNDER Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s invisible life. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Anna Funder reveals the significant and unacknowledged contribution of Mrs Orwell to the famous writer’s career. Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them … The process has to be...
CYNTHIA DEARBORN The Year My Family Unravelled. Reviewed by Mary Garden
Cynthia Dearborn’s memoir recounts a confrontation with painful memories and a chance at redemption. This beautifully written memoir tells the story of one tumultuous year. It is 2007 and Cynthia Dearborn finds herself in the role of caregiver and advocate for...
PAUL GRACE Operation Hurricane. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Paul Grace details the shameful conduct of British atomic testing in Australia and its toxic legacy. Even though the Americans and British were allies during World War II, the Americans were not prepared to share their knowledge of atom bombs with the British. They...
ROSS McMULLIN Life So Full of Promise: Further biographies of Australia’s lost generation. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Ross McMullin’s account of those who fought in World War I is a masterpiece of storytelling, weaving family, community, sporting, and military history into a satisfying whole. In previous books such as The Light on the Hill, his history of the Labor Party, and his...
WALTER MARSH Young Rupert: The making of the Murdoch empire. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Walter Marsh charts the origins of Murdoch’s media playbook and political connections in 1950s Adelaide. Walter Marsh is a journalist based in Adelaide, the city where Rupert Murdoch’s empire began when he took control of Adelaide’s afternoon daily paper The...
FRIEDA HUGHES George: A magpie memoir. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Frieda Hughes’ memoir of life with magpie George includes a generous dose of magpie mayhem. George, the baby magpie Frieda Hughes rescues and falls in love with, is, as she readily admits, ‘a little eating-shitting machine’. ‘Don’t write the grotty stuff,’ said a...
MEGAN DAVIS Voice of Reason: On Recognition and Renewal; THOMAS MAYO and KERRY O’BRIEN The Voice to Parliament Handbook. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Two new books explore the issues behind the forthcoming referendum to create a Voice to Parliament for First Nations Australians. Later this year we will be asked to participate in a referendum to alter the Australian Constitution to include the following (Section...
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