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...
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....
FELIPE FERNÁNDEZ-ARMESTO Straits: Beyond the Myth of Magellan. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Was the explorer Ferdinand Magellan the hero European history has claimed him to be? Failure is fatal to happiness but can be fruitful for fame. Metaphorically, resurrection often follows crucifixion. Sometimes partial but spectacular success adds glamour to a...
HENRY GEE A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 billion years in 12 chapters. Reviewed by Robin Riedstra
Henry Gee manages to convey 4.6 billion years of history and a planet’s sense of yearning in one slim volume. Douglas Adams wrote in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry...
AC GRAYLING The Frontiers of Knowledge. Reviewed by Chris Maher
AC Grayling ranges across multiple disciplines as he presents the case for a broader understanding of the world. At this year’s Sydney Writers Festival, renowned philosopher and author AC Grayling implored the audience to become multi-literate, that is to read widely...
EDMUND RICHARDSON Alexandria: The quest for the lost city. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Edmund Richardson recounts the hazardous life of ‘one of the greatest archaeologists of the age’. Nineteenth-century archaeologist James Lewis (alias Charles Masson), who sought traces of Alexander the Great in Afghanistan, was clearly an excellent storyteller, and in...
STUART CLARK Beneath the Night. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Stuart Clark ranges across myths, archaeology and astronomy to chart the history of our obsession with the stars. On a mountain in ‘Australia’s Warrumbungles range’, English astronomer Stuart Clark stood under the clear night sky and experienced the sublime: There was...
TOM SEGEV A State At Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion. Reviewed by Renee Bittoun
Tom Segev’s biography illuminates the life and complexities of David Ben-Gurion, a central but divisive figure in Israel’s history. Ask Jews in Australia their views on Ben-Gurion and you will often get the reply that he is ‘a lion’, ‘a hero’,...
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