Reviewed by Richard Tutin Motor racing tracks around the world vary in their layout and scenery. Some are interesting in the way they test the cars and bikes to their mechanical limits while others have scenery that enhance the experience of watching a race as drivers and riders battle it out for track supremacy. Australia
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Both The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald publish ‘Explainers’, a series which began in 2018 and regularly touches on a range of topics, as this book illustrates. It contains short chapters written by journalists who do research and interview the relevant experts. The section on the waggling, or dance, of
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Big Book of Australian Yarns is compiled by Jim Haynes, recipient of an OAM in 2016 for services to the performing arts as an entertainer, author, broadcaster and historian. He has published other works as the result of decades of research into popular culture and history from around Australia. The
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Prior to reading Mean Streak, if anyone had told me that 500 pages about the inner workings of the public service would be riveting reading, I would have laughed. Having read this book, I am not laughing. It is a mesmerising account of one of the most iniquitous government failures in
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Australian Football (AFL) or Australian Rules as it has often been called is not as well known in Queensland as it is in the southern states particularly Victoria. The recent Grand Final win by the Brisbane Lions men’s team has though spurred many Queenslanders to look more seriously at the game.
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders China and Russia are two countries with very different trajectories. The former is a resurgent superpower, an economic miracle in just 40 years. By contrast, the once mighty Russian empire is now labelled a “regional power” and can only dream of reclaiming its “lost” territories. As a long time China watcher,
Reviewed by Richard Tutin I had a couple of questions as I approached this offering from Glen Humphries. The first was when does a good rock song become a rock anthem? The second question was how do the forty top songs that he has chosen from the Australian songbook became acknowledged as rock anthems when
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve This impassioned book by Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, now the ACT’s Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, alerts us to what needs to be done to correct/replace the failed system, the out-of-home care for Aboriginal children, that now results in additional trauma and heartache for those at its
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Not a day goes by when the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes up in either the media or conversation. Yet, as Marcus Smith explains in this book it is only one form of what can be called “Techno” – a shortening of the word technology. Technology has become a very
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Mt Townsend is Australia’s second highest mainland peak. It is an attractive mountain, with a rocky top that demands some scrambling, before revealing breathtaking views of the Snowy Mountains and Victorian Alps. But the mountain, much like the man it was named for, is little known despite its formidable attributes. Peter
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders The Pilbara is not a place for the faint of heart. Home to Marble Bar’s Warmest welcome from Australia’s hottest town, it is a harsh and stunning land of rocky peaks, gorges and arid plains. To survive, let alone thrive, requires a special toughness and resilience. The first inhabitants of the
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Across Australia many private schools have an elite squad of sporting students called the First XV. This group is made up of the most promising players of Rugby Union and who, it is thought, will go on to achieve greater things in the sport. It is from this nursery that many
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Archeologists have unearthed ancient bone flutes, their exact age impossible to determine. Drums made with wood and skin, too, would have been played for millennia but their materials could not endure as have the primitive bone flutes. This is evidence that music in its many forms has been a part of
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Any new book on how to be a leader enters a crowded space. There are reputed to be more than 50,000 books on Amazon alone, with “Leadership” in the title. In recent years, self-publishing has added substantial numbers and diversity to the topic. Former airline pilot, Chris Smith has taken
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Books about wetlands are usually the province of photographers or aquatic scientists and richly illustrated with plants, animals and landscapes that display a natural beauty. But what environmental historian Emily O’Gorman has written in her latest book demonstrates that many wetlands have been profoundly changed by people, and as a society,