Non-Fiction

Reviewed by Clare Brook Indigenous linguists, Gari Tudor-Smith, Paul Williams and Felicity Meakins, give an account of the amazing diversity of Australian First Nations languages in Bina: First Nations Languages, Old and New.  So doing they travelled throughout Australia studying fifty-six language groups.  However, before colonisation there were over four hundred different languages, some as

Reviewed by Richard Tutin Australians know that summer has well and truly arrived when Test Cricket is promoted and broadcast. Over the years Australia has hosted many great teams: England, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan immediately come to mind. We should not forget India in this list of worthy adversaries who have come to

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