Latest Articles
It's hard to believe the attention paid to Raygun's Paris absurdities, but there may be deeper lessons in that writhing and posing
Sep 10 2024
10 mins
From a perspective of some eighty years it is possible to misunderstand or underestimate the intensity of the fears—but also the hopes and aspirations—of the British people as they faced up to another colossal existential challenge, less than a full generation after what, it was now suddenly clear, had only been the first world war
Sep 10 2024
11 mins
The Republican presidential contender is an acquired taste. Given the alternative, it's a taste persnickety conservatives should make the effort to acquire
Sep 09 2024
4 mins
Christmas Books: Tony Abbott
Tony Blair’s memoir is the most riveting book on politics that I’ve read for a long time. 
It’s thoughtful, occasionally self-critical and sometimes very funny. I’ve told my senior staff that they should give it text book status.
I’m now looking forward to reading John Howard’s Lazarus Rising which Paul Kelly has described as by far the best of Australian prime ministerial memoirs.
Over Christmas, I want to finish Andrew Robert’s Masters and Commanders, an instructive study of how the war was won and finally read Geoffrey Blainey’s magisterial Short History of the 20th Century which has been on my bedside table for too long.
Inspired by a recent Quadrant piece, I’ve obtained Jonathon Spence’s The Rise of Modern China. Greg Craven’s recent Spectator review has persuaded me that John Hirst’s latest book of essays, Looking for Australia, is a must-read.
Finally, after Bob Ellis was so kind to me in 100 Days of Summer, I should read his election diary, Suddenly, Last Winter.
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins
