Reviewed by Richard Tutin In a park in the City of Bendigo Victoria sits a small building that represents an enduring link within the annals of Australian history. I refer to the Joss House Temple that was opened in 1871 as a place of worship for the Chinese community who came to Bendigo in search
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sister Viv is the latest novel written by Grantlee Kieza OAM. He held senior editorial positions at The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Courier-Mail for many years and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his writing. He once said that Australian children were not being
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Many of us are familiar with the ‘Opium Wars’ that were waged in China by western Powers such as Britain and France between 1839 and 1860. What may be unfamiliar is the background to these skirmishes that ended with China having to allow the continued importation of opium and other goods
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke In December 2012 Bruce Munday first published the book Those Dry Stone Walls. It sold out four times and was reprinted with revisions. Those Dry Stone Walls is now out of print again. Wakefield Press and the author decided that rather than go to a fourth reprint a second edition should
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Readers of Karl Schlögel’s books could be forgiven for measuring them on an avoirdupois scale. The latest The Soviet Century: Archaeology of a Lost World is over 900 pages in length and deliberately draws the readers’ attention to spatial concepts with its strange title. Its saving grace rests with the author’s
Reviewed by Richard Tutin There is the thought that not much more can be said about the history of the Roman Empire. Mary Beard though breaks through this thought and has dug a little deeper to reveal more about the Emperors between Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) and Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Beard though
Reviewed by Ian Lipke The second volume of Zachary Gorman’s work is called The Menzies Watershed, a singularly appropriate title for the second of a research study which will eventually cover four volumes. Volume No. 1 focussed on Menzies’ career in 1884 – 1942 and covered the journey of a politician in his earliest years.
Reviewed by Richard Tutin History can be interesting when the right book comes along. All too often we are offered books that contain good facts but whose prose can be very dry and droll. We feel the need for a good story or two to liven things up. This is where Jim Haynes’ latest book
Reviewed by Richard Tutin History is fickle. Not only is it fickle, it is notoriously selective. It has been said that only the victors get to write it and that is largely true. Otto English has given us a provocative book. The stories he tells about ten characters from the pages of history may or
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders One of the more unusual institutions in Zagreb, Croatia, is the Museum of Broken Relationships. Populated by objects and words that tell heartbreaking, though sometimes comical, stories of those who have loved and lost. Courting is a book about a particular kind of broken relationship – one that ends just as
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke For all those who obtained degrees through The University of Queensland, Mayne Hall will be familiar to you. Peter Roennfeldt, an alumnus of the University of Queensland and Emeritus Professor at Griffith University, has provided a detailed account of Mayne Hall from its first ideas to the years where it fulfilled
Reviewed by Richard Tutin There is an old hymn that describes time as being like an ever-rolling stream that bears all of us away. Rebecca Struthers captures this neatly as she takes us on a journey through the history of time. Her experience and expertise as a watchmaker put her in a unique position to
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Any country whose first colonists were predominantly criminals should be an excellent breeding place for crime stories. Graham Seal’s latest compilation in his “Great” series is proof positive that Australia has sired generations of inventive felons for whom nothing is sacrosanct. The book commences with a chapter on crimes of the
Reviewed by Richard Tutin We often forget that recorded history has many dimensions. While many complain that they have only be taught or shown one side of historical events – usually that of the winners – it doesn’t take long before other stories begin to emerge. Some of these other stories are very serious and
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to a media frenzy that sometimes overwhelms us with deluges of content. We have daily updates, analysis, propaganda and predictions that add up to an incoherent and often conflicting narrative. No single voice speaks with authenticity and predictions are frequently proven wrong. Into this