Ukraine Unity

Every conversation in Germany and France, during a recent sojourn, included discussion of the Ukraine war, conveying a palpable feeling…

Berlin & Beyond

Kookynie may be a thriving hub of cosmopolitan life, but after two years of pandemic confinement your International Affairs correspondent…

Further to Once Upon a Time in Russia and its portrayal of three of the original oligarchs, my new recommendation…

PART ONE KINDRED: A Cradle Mountain Love Story by Kate Legge is the engaging biographical story of Gustav Weindorfer and…

Hilary Mantel’s epic tome (first in a trilogy) is fictionalised biography of Thomas Cromwell and history of the early Tudor…

DANGER! Here we get to the pointy end of Aussie breakfasts. In the last decade or more, so-called smashed avocado…

The Sea, a novel by John Banville, is disappointing and full of wordy affectation. Archaic and obscure words are sprinkled…

Queensland is not a cultural grey area. Thanks to the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane and the Asia-Pacific Triennial…

Alex Miller’s novel, set in the 1920s, traces the momentous choices facing Emily Stanton, as she moves between Melbourne, Paris,…

Apparently everybody likes our occasional Germany vs Australia jousts, so here’s anothery. Karl Benz patented the world’s first car in…