Speech by Emeritus Professor Graeme Davison at the Melbourne launch of The Work of History: Writing for Stuart Macintyre

Speech by Emeritus Professor Graeme Davison at the Melbourne launch of The Work of History: Writing for Stuart Macintyre

Melbourne Athenaeum Library, 15 July 2022 The Work of History: Writing for Stuart Macintyre, edited by Peter Beilharz and Sian Supski,Melbourne University Press. Many words– true and heartfelt words– have already been spoken and written about Stuart and his remarkable legacy.  Among them, I particularly remember those spoken by his daughter Mary on the day […]
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, […]
Who is going to write the urgent histories of tomorrow?

Who is going to write the urgent histories of tomorrow?

By Lyndon Megarrity   In the midst of commemorating 90 years of broadcasting this year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced that it was abolishing 58 specialist librarian and archivist roles, with journalists expected to play an increasing role in sourcing, collecting and cataloguing material.[1] It’s just the latest example of myopic managerialism that has become […]
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 […]
The Ongoing Crisis in Sri Lanka

The Ongoing Crisis in Sri Lanka

By Dr Niro Kandasamy   Sri Lankans have taken to the streets to protest the Rajapaksa government. As food supplies dwindle and tensions increase, the president refuses to step down. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence. The country’s population of 22 million have endured months of severe shortages in food, fuel, […]
The Sri Lankan state is using violence to unleash fury on its citizens, as its political and economic crisis  deepens

The Sri Lankan state is using violence to unleash fury on its citizens, as its political and economic crisis  deepens

Niro Kandasamy, University of Sydney The Sri Lankan state is descending into a full blown political and economic crisis, as more people contend with starvation, death and severe disruptions. Now they are also facing the brutal violence of the state. The BBC reports at least nine people died and more than 200 were injured as […]
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 […]
Are we learning the wrong lessons from  history?

Are we learning the wrong lessons from  history?

Cover Image: ‘Peace for our time’: British prime minister Neville Chamberlain displaying the Anglo-German declaration, known as the Munich Agreement, in September 1938. Wikimedia, CC BY-SA Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University Can historians influence government policy? Should they? And, if so, what kinds of historical knowledge should they produce? I suspect policy-makers only rarely think […]
Friday essay: why soldiers commit war crimes – and what we can do about  it

Friday essay: why soldiers commit war crimes – and what we can do about  it

Mia Martin Hobbs, Deakin University The following essay contains disturbing images and language. In 2020, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force released the Afghanistan Inquiry into Australian Defence Force Special Forces atrocities in Afghanistan. The report – commonly known as the Brereton Report – resulted in a flurry of analysis debating how and why […]
Friday essay: if growing US-China rivalry leads to ‘the worst war ever’, what should Australia  do?

Friday essay: if growing US-China rivalry leads to ‘the worst war ever’, what should Australia  do?

Hugh White, Australian National University Should Australia join the United States in a war against China to prevent China taking the US’s place as the dominant power in East Asia? Until a few years ago the question would have seemed merely hypothetical, but not anymore. Senior figures in the Morrison government quite explicitly acknowledged that […]