Bookshelf

Book Review – Persons of Interest: An Intimate Account of Cecily and John Burton

Book Review – Persons of Interest: An Intimate Account of Cecily and John Burton

Christopher Waters reviews Persons of Interest: An Intimate Account of Cecily and John Burton, by Pamela Burton with Meredith Edwards, Canberra: ANU Press, 2022.    Relationships within families are rarely the starting point for works of political history. Biographies and memoirs of political actors may include something on the subject’s family history and the support […]

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Q&A with Claire E.F. Wright, author of Australian Economic History (ANU Press, 2022)

Q&A with Claire E.F. Wright, author of Australian Economic History (ANU Press, 2022)

Lyndon Megarrity interviews Claire E.F. Wright about her new book Australian Economic History (ANU Press, 2022)   Your book on the history of Australian economic history has a strong focus on local, national and global academic networks among staff at Australian tertiary institutions. What inspired you to take this approach to your work? I’ve had […]
Book Review – Liberalism and its Discontents

Book Review – Liberalism and its Discontents

Joshua Black reviews Francis Fukuyama’s Liberalism and its Discontents (Profile; 2022).   It is particularly timely to be reading and thinking about contemporary liberalism. The United States Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade, the re-emergence of high inflation, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have given liberal intellectuals pause for thought. Against this backdrop, […]
Book Review – The Art of Coalition: The Howard Government Experience, 1996-2007

Book Review – The Art of Coalition: The Howard Government Experience, 1996-2007

David Lovell & Andrew Blyth, The Art of Coalition: The Howard Government Experience, 1996-2007 (Sydney: NewSouth, 2022).  Review by Zachary Gorman.   The Art of Coalition: The Howard Government Experience, 1996-2007 edited by David Lovell and Andrew Blyth is a timely contribution to both Australian political science and Australian political history. Coalition relations were often […]
Book Review – The Secrets of Emu Field: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Tests in Australia

Book Review – The Secrets of Emu Field: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Tests in Australia

Elizabeth Tynan, The Secrets of Emu Field: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Tests in Australia, NewSouth, 384pp, $34.99. Book Review by Honae Cuffe.   In The Secrets of Emu Field: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Tests in Australia, historian Elizabeth Tynan reveals the story of Britain’s burgeoning atomic capabilities, Australia’s own ambitions, and the Aboriginal communities who were harmed […]
Review – Australia’s Great Depression: how a nation shattered by the Great War survived the worst economic crisis it has ever faced

Review – Australia’s Great Depression: how a nation shattered by the Great War survived the worst economic crisis it has ever faced

Joan Beaumont, Australia’s Great Depression: how a nation shattered by the Great War survived the worst economic crisis it has ever faced, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2022. Review by Janet McCalman.   This is the first general history of Australia’s Great Depression that embraces city and the bush, all states and territories, politics, economics, and […]
Book Review – The Genesis of a Policy Defining and Defending Australia’s National Interest in the Asia-Pacific, 1921–57

Book Review – The Genesis of a Policy Defining and Defending Australia’s National Interest in the Asia-Pacific, 1921–57

The Genesis of a Policy – Honae Cuffe, ANU Press, Canberra, 2021 Review by Anna Kent   In the midst of an election campaign, with some nuanced foreign policy debate breaking through into the mainstream media, it is wonderful to read a book that challenges the conventional view on foreign policy history. Honae Cuffe’s book […]
Q&A with Stephen Gapps, author of Gudyarra: The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance – The Bathurst War, 1822–1824.

Q&A with Stephen Gapps, author of Gudyarra: The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance – The Bathurst War, 1822–1824.

Kristyn Harman  interviews Stephen Gapps, author of Gudyarra: The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance – The Bathurst War, 1822–1824 (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2021).   Congratulations on the publication of Gudyarra, Stephen! It’s interesting to see that you’ve chosen to use the Wiradyuri word for ‘war’ as the title for your book. What informed your choice? And […]
Q&A with Isobelle Barrett Meyering, author of Feminism and the Making of a Child Rights Revolution, 1969–1979.

Q&A with Isobelle Barrett Meyering, author of Feminism and the Making of a Child Rights Revolution, 1969–1979.

Jacquelyn Baker interviews Isobelle Barrett Meyering about her new book, Feminism and the Making of a Child Rights Revolution, 1969-1979, which examines the way in which women’s liberationists spearheaded the new wave of child rights activism in the 1970s.   Congratulations on the publication of your book, Isobelle! It makes a significant contribution to the […]
Q&A with Karen Fox, author of Honouring a Nation: A History of Australia’s Honours System

Q&A with Karen Fox, author of Honouring a Nation: A History of Australia’s Honours System

Our Books Editor, Lyndon Megarrity, interviews Karen Fox, author of Honouring a Nation: A History of Australia’s Honours System (Canberra: ANU Press, 2022).   What inspired you to write a history of the Australian honours system? The history of honours is a subject that has intrigued me for a long time. I first became interested […]