Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

Monash contributor

A Little America in Western Australia: The US Naval Communication Station at North West Cape and the Founding of Exmouth by Anthony J. Barker and Michael L. Ondaatje

by •
March 2016, no. 379
Seumas Spark reviews 'A Little America in Western Australia' by Anthony J. Barker and Michael L. Ondaatje

Visiting Australia in November 2011, President Obama announced plans for the deployment of United States marines to a Darwin base. The decision to establish a permanent American military presence in northern Australia, taken with the support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Australian government, was part of the 'pivot' to Asia in US defence policy. The idea ...

Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider’s Stand Against the World’s Most Powerful Industry by Andrew Nikiforuk

by •
March 2016, no. 379
Ruth A. Morgan reviews 'Slick Water' by Andrew Nikiforuk

In January 2016, Canadian Jessica Ernst had her day in court. Lawyers for the former oil industry insider debated whether she could sue the Alberta energy regulator over her claim that hydraulic fracturing had so badly contaminated her well that the water could be set on fire. This hearing in the Supreme Court of Canada is the latest chapter in Ernst's twelve-year b ...

Youth

by •
24 December 2015
Youth

'Meditative' is not perhaps the epithet that comes to mind in relation to most films, but it is entirely apt when applied to Paolo Sorrentini's new film, Youth, which will no doubt be fallen upon avidly by the many admirers of his previous film, The Great Beauty (2013). Several minutes before the opening title ...

... (read more)

Hector by Rozzi Bazzani

by •
January-February 2016, no. 378
John Rickard reviews 'Hector' by Rozzi Bazzani

Hector Crawford is a unique figure in the history of Australian radio and television. The Australian Dictionary of Biography article (also by the author of this book) describes him as 'television producer, media lobbyist and musician', to which could be added radio producer, showman, and entrepreneur. Above all, he was a persistent and canny advocate of Aus ...

Mad Dog Morgan by Jake Wilson

by •
January-February 2016, no. 378
Brian McFarlane reviews 'Mad Dog Morgan' by Jake Wilson

The evocative Prologue to this book has a poetic precision that bodes well for its treatment of this too-long neglected film, and what follows more than answers such expectations.

Jake Wilson's analysis (resuscitation might be a better word) of the 1976 Australian bushranging adventure,

The Utility of Meaning: What Words Mean and Why by N.J. Enfield

by •
January-February 2016, no. 378
Kate Burridge reviews 'The Utility of Meaning' by N.J. Enfield

Words and their meanings, more than any other aspects of language, hold a special fascination for people. Perhaps it is because, unlike these other features (which are set down during childhood), they continue to be acquired throughout one's lifetime. Words and their meanings are also intimately tied to the life and culture of speakers, and all sorts of perspectives ...

Keating by Kerry O'Brien

by •
January-February 2016, no. 378
James Walter reviews 'Keating' by Kerry O'Brien

Paul Keating continues to fascinate. Influential commentators such as Paul Kelly and George Megalogenis now celebrate the golden age of policy reform in which he was central, while lamenting the policy desert of recent years. Still, it is not enough: Keating, the master storyteller, wants to control the narrative of his legacy. Yet he professes disdain for biography ...

Older and Bolder: Life After 60 by Renata Singer

by •
November 2015, no. 376
Ilana Snyder reviews 'Older and Bolder' by Renata Singer

In 1971, the Boston Women's Health Collective published Our Bodies, Ourselves, which became an international phenomenon and was translated into twenty-nine languages. For second wave feminists, taking control of their lives and their bodies was a basic principle. The book provided information related to sexuality, birth control, abortion, pregnancy and chil ...

The Australian Archaeologist's Book of Quotations edited by Mike Smith and Billy Griffiths

by •
October 2015, no. 375
Ruth A. Morgan reviews 'The Australian Archaeologist's Book of Quotations' edited by Mike Smith and Billy Griffiths

The Australian Archaeologist’s Book of Quotations is a veritable time-traveller’s guide for making sense of a continent, a nation, and its people. The editors, archaeologist Mike Smith and historian Billy Griffiths, have served up a smorgasbord of archaeological appetisers, with a feast of pithy insights into how Australians are coming to terms with ancie ...

The Handbook: Surviving and living with climate change by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

by •
October 2015, no. 375
Ruth A. Morgan reviews 'The Handbook' by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

Although the mantra ‘Don’t panic, but get prepared’ guides Jane Rawson and James Whitmore’s handbook for Surviving and Living with Climate Change, they certainly do not paint a pretty picture of climate-change Australia. The scenarios are alarming: Australia will be hotter, drier in some parts, wetter in others, with more frequent bushfires, floods, a ...

Page 17 of 21