Peter Deakin takes an intriguing look at 25 current and former leaders, musicians, politicians, artists and actors. He dissects each of these individuals and describes how each of them was able to summon ‘whatever it takes’ to surmount any opposition or obstacle lying in their path, in order to leave an indelible mark on the world.
Three murders, three perfect murders... near the rabbit-proof fence in desolate Western Australia. Perfect - except the process was exactly as described in Arthur Upfield’s crime novel The Sands of Windee (1931). It had all began in 1929, when Upfield was working on the fence and plotting a new novel featuring the Aboriginal detective, Napoleon ......
The Mango Tree is an evocative journey into a long-lost Australian childhood, and won the Miles Franklin award in 1974. It is a novel about a young man growing up in a country town in the early years of the 20th century which, like a faded letter from a forgotten lover, evokes bitter-sweet memories of the dream-days of youth in a world long past.
‘Of course you’ll take a gun,’ they said to me when I left Melbourne, ‘even if it’s only one of those little mother-of-pearl things the vamps used to carry in their evening-bags. Apart from wild blacks there will be crocodiles, and Malays running amok, and men that haven’t seen a white woman in thirty years. There might be three hundred miles of ......
Paul Wenz was born in France in 1869, lived in Australia, and wrote stories dealing mainly with his Australian experiences for the French. He wrote ten books from 'Nanima', his homestead in Forbes, New South Wales, including two collections of short stories and four Australian novels. He also translated Jack London and Joseph Conrad, both who came ......
During his 1920s heyday, Arnold Bennett was one of Britain's most celebrated writers. As the author of The Old Wives' Tale and Clayhanger he was a household name, writing just as much for the common man as London's literati. His face was plastered over theatre hoardings and the sides of West End omnibuses. To his public, Bennett stood for ......
The Great Gatsby has sold 25 million copies worldwide and sells 500, 000 copies annually. The book has been made into three movies and produced for the theatre. It is considered the Greatest American Novel ever written. Yet, the story of how The Great Gatsby was written has not been told except as embedded chapters of much larger biographies. This ......
Paul Wenz was born in France in 1869, lived in Australia, and wrote stories dealing mainly with his Australian experiences for the French. He wrote ten books from 'Nanima', his homestead in Forbes, New South Wales, including two collections of short stories and four Australian novels. He also translated Jack London and Joseph Conrad, both who came ......