Jan–Feb 2019, issue no. 408
Richard Freadman reviews 'Portraits from Life: Modernist novelists and autobiography' by Jerome Boyd Maunsell
H.G. Wells, in his Experiment in Autobiography (1934), describes Henry James as ‘a strange unnatural human being’ who ‘regarded his fellow creatures with a face of distress More
Billy Griffiths reviews 'Burning Planet' by Andrew C. Scott
A few years ago I walked through a burning landscape with a young archaeobotanist, Xavier. We were in Arnhem Land, and the local Indigenous landowners had lit a low-intensity fire – a co More
Robert Dessaix reviews 'The Origins of Dislike' by Amit Chaudhuri
There is something oddly Jesuitical about this arresting, if not quite thrilling, collection of essays in defence of Modernism (and so modernity). It may be Krishna that Amit Chaudhuri cha More
Josh Specht reviews 'The Indian World of George Washington' by Colin G. Calloway
As a young man, George Washington (1732–99) worked as a surveyor. Looking at a landscape, he could plan its division into orderly tracts. These skills would prove useful when he became t More
Andrew Alexandra reviews 'In Defence of War' by Nigel Biggar
This book by Nigel Biggar, Anglican minister and Oxford Professor of Theology, is in the rich and broad tradition of thinking about war known as Just War Theory (JWT). JWT sees war as just More
Wilfrid Prest reviews 'The Reformation of the Landscape' by Alexandra Walsham
Australian universities have long taught early modern (c.1500–1750) English/British and European history, but with Alexandra Walsham’s recent appointment as the first female t More
Recent Issues
December 2018, no. 407
• Books of the Year: 34 critics and authors, including Michelle de Kretser, Fiona Wright, Beejay Silcox, Gregory Day, and Gideon Haigh, nominate their favourite books of 2018.
• Review of the Month: Glyn Davis on David Marr’s new collection of speeches, essays, and stories, My Country.
• Peter Goldsworthy lauds the Collected Poems of Les Murray.
• Professor Joy Damousi on the controversial vetoing of eleven ARC grants, and brief statements from a further thirteen academics.
• Andrea Goldsmith’s tribute to her late partner and poet Dorothy Porter.
November 2018, no. 406
• Review of the Month: Paul Strangio on Laura Tingle’s new Quarterly Essay Follow the Leader on Australian politics
• Beejay Silcox’s new Fellowship essay on the evolution of misery literature and trauma voyeurism in fiction
• Arts Highlights of the Year: twenty-nine critics nominate their most memorable events across the arts
• Astrid Edwards reviews Clementine Ford’s new book Boys Will Be Boys
• Jane Cadzow reviews the new memoir from Gillian Triggs
• Varun Ghosh on Bob Woodward’s book on Donald Trump
• Maggie MacKellar on Clare Wright’s new history of women’s progress in Australia