For most of Australia’s European history, the Church of England has been the largest denomination. In 1841 its adherents represented sixty per cent of the population; in 1901 the numbers were still close to forty per cent. ...

The extraordinary photographer Richard Woldendorp joins writers Roger McDonald and Amanda Burdon in "Wool", a sumptuous presentation that celebrates with every glossy page. But is "Wool" a celebration or a wake? Why publish ...

Anyone who remembers the amiable host of the ABC’s television show "Backchat", which he compèred for eight years from 1986, will not be surprised to learn that Tim Bowden has written a breezily readable memoir. Its pages ...

Martha Augoustinos and Katherine J. Reynolds have edited an intellectually substantial collection of essays on a timely topic. The ease with which the perception of group difference can be cultivated and transformed into ...

One of the pleasures of reading "American Citizens, British Slaves" is its invitation to think about writing. It asks us to consider the need of prisoners to maintain, and later restore, normal relations with one's self ...

NOBEL PRIZEWINNER Albert Camus played soccer for Algeria. First-time novelist Nikos Athanasou has been likened to Camus — for his writing, not his ball skills — but, on the basis of his début, this comparison is hard to ...

"Girl Heroes" is a book that meditates deeply on the question of the image and objectification, and on what's at stake in the Nietzschean ideal of aesthetic subjectivity, a realm in which the divisions between illusion and ...

"Angel Rock" revolves around the story of lost children. First, the two Ferry boys go missing, then a sixteen-year-old girl from the town. The anti-hero detective, Gibson, is also a lost child seeking answers to a crime ...

"The Bread with Seven Crusts" is primarily the story of the relationship between Giuseppe Lazaro, an Italian POW, and Eddy Nash, an Australian nurse. It is an earnest book that tackles some rich and interesting themes. You ...

Post-September 11, in Australia, as in the USA, the ad hominem tactic has had a thorough workout, and the patriotism card is the most thumbed in the deck. As a consequence, it becomes increasingly difficult, even in our ...