Tom Griffiths discusses the career of Mike Smith, author of a major new account of Australia’s desert archaeology
06 May 13 Comments (0)Such a bloody wonderful place
Sylvia Lawson reviews John Hughes’s documentary about the poet Judith Wright, and Pablo Larraín’s No
28 Apr 13 Comments (1)Ken Loach’s dreamland
The renowned director’s new film, which uses the socialist mood of 1945 to assail the world Margaret Thatcher created, is bad history and worse politics, says David Hayes
Comments (0)The rally-car driver and the one-time dentist
Duncan Hewitt reviews two important – and laconically witty – new books about China’s faultlines and prospects
Comments (0)Tricks of the trade
Rome’s greatest orator has a message for the current generation of political leaders, says Brett Evans
18 Apr 13 Comments (2)Citizenship by the booklet
Like Australia, Britain decided to make it harder for new arrivals to become citizens. Kerry Ryan looks at the mixed results
05 Mar 13 Comments (1)The lion and the Lion City
Chris Lydgate reviews a new biography of Stamford Raffles, the contradictory colonialist who founded Singapore, and an account of a trip through the modern-day city state and its neighbour, Malaysia
12 Feb 13 Comments (0)The right kind of middle class?
In 1962 Peter Coleman assembled a group of writers to fill a gap in the way intellectuals had viewed Australia, writes Frank Bongiorno
16 Dec 12 Comments (1)Britain’s economic tunnel
An endless recession has changed politics and livelihoods. But in a many-sided national argument there is no consensus about its lessons, says David Hayes
03 Dec 12 Comments (0)It was time: Mick Young’s triumph, forty years on
Not only was the 1972 election a watershed for Labor, it also created the modern political campaign, writes Stephen Mills
29 Nov 12 Comments (1)A certain curiosity
Two key figures in the postwar development of the Labor Party never met, writes Norman Abjorensen
28 Oct 12 Comments (0)Notes from a low-key governor-generalship
Are the intriguing revelations from the notebooks of Paul Hasluck part of a larger trove, asks Paul Rodan
17 Oct 12 Comments (0)William Chidley’s answer to the sex problem
Born to a free-thinking family in Melbourne around 1860, William Chidley became an energetic campaigner with some surprisingly respectable supporters, writes Frank Bongiorno in this extract from his new book
04 Jul 12 Comments (0)Retro gastronomy
Dean Ashenden looks at Australians’ enthusiasm for new foods and our readiness to adapt, improvise and reinvent
Comments (0)How to win an election
Brett Evans looks at a timeless guide for politicians with a sting in the tail
05 Jun 12 Comments (0)