Reviewed by Rod McLary On 13 August 1987, seventeen-year-old Jasper Haigh died following a car accident in Geelong. Jasper – or Jaz – was the younger brother of Gideon Haigh the well-known author and journalist. As would be expected, the sudden death of his young brother had a significant impact on the life of Gideon
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Next time you find yourself doing some mundane work, imagine what it would be like to be paid to step onto the stage of the Sydney Opera House every night, to perform in front of a cheering audience. A recent French TV series portrayed an opera company as a hotbed of
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke According to the promotional material provided, this book is the first comprehensive biography of the godfather of Australian bushranging – Frank Gardiner – leader of the Lachlan gang and mastermind of the largest gold heist in Australian history. The author, Ian W. Shaw, has published over a dozen books. He believes
Reviewed by Richard Tutin It has been said that the mystique of flying disappeared years ago yet there is still the thought, as we take our seats for a flight to somewhere, that vestiges of it still exist. Captain Jeremy Burfoot, a pilot of more than thirty-five years’ experience, lays bare some of that ongoing
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As the title of the book suggests, this story is about Giacomo Puccini, the Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Broadly based on actual people and events, it imagines the composer’s life around the time of his creating the opera Madama Butterfly early in the 20th Century. However, the first
Reviewed by Clare Brook Nothing exists, and therefore can be understood, in isolation from its context, for it is context that gives meaning to what we think and do. Alvin Gouldner Tessa Morris-Suzuki’s biography of Monte Punshon reveals not only the unique life of a women born in the late nineteenth century but also deepens
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Rarely does a book cover juxtapose an image of the Kremlin and a map of the Kimberley. If this book was a work of fiction, most readers would consider it far-fetched. But calling this a “remarkable true story” is actually an understatement. The main storyteller is Nick Stride, a likeable Englishman,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke What an odd fellow George Kennan must have been! Costigliola’s book, Kennan: a Life Between Worlds is one of the few books to treat him with limited sympathy. At the centre of much discussion about this statesman is what Costigliola calls Keenan’s ‘tragedy’, a reference to Keenan’s treatment by arms of
Reviewed by Richard Tutin I often wonder as I listen to a piece of music or a song on the radio about its backstory. Why was it written? What was the inspiration behind it? I also am interested in those who sing the song and provide the musical backing. What drew them into the music
Reviewed by E. B. Heath The glacier knocks in the cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the crack in the teacup opens A lane to the land of the dead. W.H.Auden Famous for her historical novels, one can only assume that Hilary Mantel has a cupboard full of cracked teacups. But, as this
Reviewed by Rod McLary Social history, which came to prominence in the 1970s as a discipline, sought to document large social changes and reconstruct the experiences of ordinary people through the course of those changes. There is a subset of Social history which also came to some prominence at the same time – women’s history
Reviewed by Clare Brook In this memoir Hilton Koppe reflects on his life as a country doctor of forty years. When Hilton received a diagnosis of PTSD from his doctor he was at a loss, how this could be happening to him? Koppe seemed to think that being a doctor should equate to being invincible.
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Quaint Deeds is a memoir of A.J. “Sandy” Mackinnon’s school teaching years in Australia and England, in the 1980s and 90s. From the subtitle and the cover, it is apparent that the memoir is more whimsical than macho, with topics and activities that all speak of a zest for life. A.J.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Kiera Lindsey has taken the little primary material available to produce a book about Adelaide Eliza Scott Ironside (1831-1867), Australia’s first locally born professional female painter, who owes some of her notoriety to an English poet’s description of her as having enthusiasm and wild ways. Is the title of this book
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The much admired historian, Emeritus Professor of History at Monash University, Graeme Davison, when bequeathed a 200 year old grandfather clock from his great-aunt Cissie, was inspired to research his family. The warmth with which he pursued his mission is obvious and his delving into Scottish, Industrial English and early Australian