by NRB | 24 May 2022 | Non-fiction |
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...
by NRB | 16 Nov 2021 | Non-fiction |
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...
by NRB | 7 Sep 2021 | Non-fiction |
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...
by NRB | 24 Jun 2021 | Non-fiction |
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...
by NRB | 23 Feb 2021 | Non-fiction |
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...
by NRB | 26 May 2020 | Non-fiction |
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’,...