Review of ‘Don Dunstan: The Visionary Politician Who Changed Australia’
It has been 40 years since Don Dunstan resigned as premier of South Australia (SA), and 20 years since his death. It is remarkable that it has taken so many decades for a comprehensive biography of his life to be published. There is certainly no shortage of content; Dunstan’s political career and personal life are both ripe with colour and controversy.... Read more
Review of ‘Our Corner of the Somme: Australia at Villers-Bretonneux’
Villers-Bretonneux is an important site in Australian commemorative imagination. It is there that the Australian National Memorial stands, and where—as Australia’s official historian Charles Bean would have it—Australian soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) single-handedly turned back the great German advance of 1918, preventing the loss of France. Notwithstanding this,... Read more
Review of ‘Convict Colony: The Remarkable Story of the Fledgling Settlement that Survived against the Odds’
Australia’s colonial history remains as relevant as ever. On 29 April 2020, the nation commemorated the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s landing at Botany Bay. It was Cook’s fateful voyage on HMS Endeavour that led to the establishment of a British colony in Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson on 26 January 1788.... Read more