My review of an absorbing account by Sally Young of the brazen theft of the parliamentary mace in Victoria in 1891, a period when political corruption and financial impropriety ran rampant. https://t.co/8e4aSbUK07
My review of an engrossing biography of Fletcher Jones, an entrepreneur who in the twentieth century created a large and unique clothing business co-owned by the staff.
My review of James O'Hanlon's 'Liars, cheats and copycats,' a mind-bending book about the variety and sophistication of deception in nature, so much of which we are just starting to appreciate. Truly, nothing is what it seems. https://t.co/p0qGrN63Ho
My review (paywall) of 'The Butterfly Thief' by Walter Marsh, a fascinating account of the life and crimes of Colin Wyatt, who in the 1940s stole hundreds of rare Australian butterfly specimens and shipped them to his home in the UK. https://t.co/JX6BzrEfwv
My review of 'Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds' by Barbara Allen, a sad but necessary book about the animal species that have disappeared yet haunt us still. https://t.co/CzJGqOPiEm
Sad news about Frederick Forsyth, author of the 1971 novel The Day of the Jackal. This thriller is a masterpiece, not least in the way the narrative generates page-turning suspense even though the reader knows how it must end.
My review of 'Clouds: How to Identify Nature’s Most Fleeting Forms' by Edward Graham, a fascinating study of a subject that is both art and science. https://t.co/YWNzxmoPBl
My review of 'James Fairfax Portrait of a collector in eleven objects' by his nephew Alexander Edward Gilly. Businessman and aesthete, the last family member to effectively run the Fairfax media empire. https://t.co/tTm63gTi2x
My review of The Siege, Ben Macintyre's absorbing account of the Iranian Embassy siege that took place in London in 1980 and was ended by a hostage rescue operation mounted by the SAS that was telecast live. https://t.co/PAnJLv8DKG
My review of a compelling biography of Madame Brussels, the female entrepreneur who in late nineteenth century Melbourne provided personal services and private entertainments https://t.co/ogfCtsHDl2
My review of 'Write Cut Rewrite: The Cutting Room Floor of Modern Literature', a fascinating and instructive book exploring how great writers are ruthless editors of their own work https://t.co/Hlv7TwwXr9
My review of Houdini Unbound, Alan Attwood's historical novel based on the 1910 tour of Australia by Harry Houdini, which coincides with an imaginary visit to Melbourne by Giacomo Puccini https://t.co/5Akw0TcZnt
My review of Graeme Davison's My Grandfather's Clock, in which an eminent historian provides a masterclass in writing a full-length family history. https://t.co/HPrcd0xoPG