Australian Public Intellectual [API] Network

Network Scholars

Voices from the Battlefield: Personal Narratives as an Historical Tool in Studying the Place of the Vietnam War in Australian Society

Janine Hiddlestone
The use of personal narratives has proved a popular method of studying the Vietnam War, both in Australia and the United States. Vietnam was one of the most controversial and longest wars in contemporary history. It was a war that was fought on the home front as well as on the battlefield, and for many, the wounds inflicted are still painful more than a quarter of a century later. The rush of histories that quickly followed previous wars were not so swift to appear after Vietnam. There was no great victory to celebrate and many found difficulty placing Vietnam into the context of a proud ...
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Network Review of Books

Mortgage Nation: The 2004 Australian Election (2005)

Reviewed by Eve Vincent in the July 2006 issue.
Mortgage Nation takes its title from an article of the same name by George Megalogenis, published in the Weekend Australian in the aftermath of the 2004 election. Megalogenis' analysis is cited approvingly by Malcolm Mackerras in Mackerras' contribution to Mortgage Nation the book: both commentators argue that interest rates provide the single most decisive explanation for the Coalition's thrashing of Latham-led Labor at the 2004 polls. Mackerras, via Megalogenis, points to a table that ranks electorates according to 'the proportion of dwellings being purchased'. He finds that 'the average ... read more.

A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women and Education in the 20th Century (2005)

Reviewed by Robert Imre in the July 2005 issue.
A Lot to Learn employs a fascinating mixed-genre format which incorporates biographical elements in order to elucidate the social context of two generations of women in education. A major portion of the book relies on Lenskyj's contribution to women's studies and to critical pedagogy in the Toronto area in Canada in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. I finished high school in the same part of the world and went on to University study and completed my first degree in 1990 at a university directly affected by Lenskyj's brand of feminism and pedagogy. As such, I am situating myself as a de ... read more.

Poetry and Philosophy from Homer to Rousseau: Romantic souls, realist lives (2005)

Reviewed by Susan Tridgell in the July 2005 issue.
Despite the presence of Rousseau in the title, this is not a book for those who are devoted to Romantic literature (or indeed for romantics more generally). The idealistic impulse of Romanticism, the wish to dedicate oneself wholly to a single idea (or another person) comes under sustained fire in this monograph. Remarkably, Haines manages to trace this Romantic notion back to what he sees as its origins in Plato. In some ways this book is an excoriation of the main lines of thought in Western literature and philosophy, a tale of complete cultural loss. Redeeming it from this ... read more.

Do Not Disturb: Is the media failing Australia? (2005)

Reviewed by Amanda Roe in the January 2006 issue.
Those of us who read and watch mainstream media critically probably know what the answer will be to the question posed by this book's title. Nevertheless, this impressive collection of essays from 'independent insiders', edited by academic (and erstwhile Fairfax contributor) Robert Manne, provides much needed historical context and thoughtful reflection on the current state of the industry. Manne introduces the background to the debate with his observation that 'In the last ten years Australia has experienced a creeping conservative counter-revolution in public sensibility'. (1) For 'the last ... read more.

Old Bush Songs: The centenary edition of Banjo Paterson's classic collection (2005)

Reviewed by Tony Smith in the July 2006 issue.
While folklore enthusiasts never tire of bush poems and songs and skilled commentary by experienced scholars, it is necessary to ask whether Australia was ready for yet another revised edition, perhaps the fifteenth, of Banjo Paterson's Old Bush Songs, first published in 1905. In their introductory remarks, Warren Fahey and Graham Seal clearly explain why this edition is justified on the grounds of historical development -- the Centenary Edition celebrates the original; it includes historiography and bibliographic information that augments previous editions; and it modernises and updates the ... read more.

The Stone Ship (2005)

Reviewed by Tony Smith in the April 2005 issue.
'I had come here to die', begins Shipton, narrator of The Stone Ship. He closes intending to return to 'a tree, and a length of rope'. Between, he describes the fantastic adventure of finding his way to the heart of 'the' University, and of coming to understand the institution enough to influence its future. The surreal arts including fairy tales, science fiction and fantasy, operate on literal and allegorical levels. When an author chooses an appropriate medium and maintains consistency, the reader is stimulated twice. Although evoking grim themes in a nightmarish world, Peter Raftos balances ... read more.

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