We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad – a Practical Guide to Parenting Our Ageing Parents by Jean Kittson Macmillan 2020 ISBN:9781743538890 $34.99 (pb) Reviewed by Anne Henderson It’s not something we try to think about. Dying. Certainly not for ourselves – though we do expect our parents to die before we do. And, [...]
Attlee and Churchill – Allies in War; Adversaries in Peace by Leo McKinstry Atlantic Books London 2019 ISBN: 9781848876606 $49.99 (hb) Reviewed by Anne Henderson Extraordinary times can produce extraordinary outcomes. None quite so unusual or extraordinary as the partnership during the Second World War of Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his Labour parliamentary colleague [...]
Ainsley Gotto by Ian Hancock Connor Court Australia 2020 ISBN: 9781925826555 $49.95 (hb) Reviewed by Paul Henderson A very large number of books, both biographies and autobiographies, have been written about Australian federal politicians. However, not many books have been written about the people who work in Canberra. Three interesting ones are The Persuaders by James [...]
Plots and Prayers: Malcolm Turnbull’s Demise and Scott Morrison’s Ascension Author: Niki Savva Publisher: Scribe, 2019 ISBN: 9781925849189 RRP: $ 35.00 Reviewed by Gerard Henderson Niki Savva was a long-time member of the Canberra Press Gallery before changing sides and working as a ministerial staffer and later in the Cabinet Office during the time of [...]
Lady in Waiting - My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner Hodder & Stoughton Zuleika 2020 ISBN-13: 9780306846359 $32.99 (hb) Reviewed by Anne Henderson Before taking up Anne Glenconner’s (now an international best seller) Lady in Waiting - My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown, it is worth reading Craig [...]
Working with Winston – The Unsung Women Behind Britain’s Greatest Statesman by Cita Stelzer Head Zeus 2019 ISBN-13: 978-1643130194 ISBN-10: 1643130196 RRP $42.99 (hb) Reviewed by Anne Henderson They were called secretaries but their duties could range widely - from endless “taking down” (shorthand) until 3am to looking after fish or butterflies and various other species in [...]
The Surprise Party: How the Coalition Went From Chaos to Comeback By Aaron Patrick Black Inc. 2019 ISBN: 9781760642174 RRP: $29.99 (pb) Reviewed by Gerard Henderson Sydney based Aaron Patrick is one of a trio of journalists who have written a book covering the May 2019 Australian election. The others are the Canberra-based Niki Savva [...]
Murder at Myall Creek by Mark Tedeschi Simon & Schuster 2016 ISBN13 9781925456264 ISBN10 1925456269 RRP $25 (pb) Reviewed by Anne Henderson Author Mark Tedeschi QC writes, in his Preface to Murder at Myall Creek, that completing his “easily accessible version” of New South Wales’ Solicitor General and Attorney General (1832-1856) John Plunkett’s life story was no [...]
Story of our Country: Labor’s Vision for Australia by Adrian Pabst Connor Court, September 2019 ISBN: 9781925826593 RRP $32.95 Reviewed by Keith Harvey This book is unusual and has entered into Australian political literature in an unusual way. Despite the implication in the title, Adrian Pabst is not an Australian but an active member of [...]
Noble Savages The Olivier Sisters – Four Lives in Seven Fragments by Sarah Watling Jonathan Cape London 2019 ISBN: 9781473549333 RRP $49.99 (hb) By Anne Henderson In an age when so much importance is given to the study of children’s education, the biographical Noble Savages The Olivier Sisters – Four Lives in Seven Fragments by [...]
