Marred by deceit
Reviewed by Peter Coleman
There are three revealing anecdotes about Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott in The Costello Memoirs, which I co-wrote in 2008. David Marr quotes two of them in full in his widely acclaimed and denounced polemic Political Animal, The Making of Tony Abbott. But he does not even mention the third, although it is the most problematic of all and… more»
A broadcaster’s life
Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Howard Cosell was a gadfly who flitted across the American cultural scene, predominantly in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a sports broadcaster who worked his trade at a tumultuous time in American history. His era was one of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement and the rise and… more»
Blindingly obvious
Reviewed by Geoffrey Wheatcroft
When Jimmy Carter won the 1976 presidential election and formed his administration, he chose Zbigniew Brzezinski as his national security advisor. Brzezinski was perhaps an unlikely figure for such a role although a man of intellectual eminence. Born the son of an aristocratic diplomatist in Poland in 1928, Brzezinski had escaped the European catastrophe with his family and was educated… more»
Australian exotica
Reviewed by Peter Coleman
Memoirs of a Young Bastard: The Diaries of Tim Burstallby Tim BurstallThe Miegunyah PressMelbourne, 2012… more»
Visas for prosperity
Reviewed by Martin Morse Wooster
There are many reasons why the United States remains the world’s strongest economy, chief among them its large market and its (somewhat) lower tax base. In his well-written and provocative new book, Robert Guest offers a third reason: America’s openness to immigrants.… more»
