At Christmas  Two women doing dishes in the sink, both downcast, both trying to think, one sighs to herself: she doesn’t look happy, there’s no way she’s going to be tied down, not free. The other, a mother, has eyes bright with tears falling slowly, wipes them away, picks up the toddler and hugs him fiercely. One year has gone and it’s nearly…

Thoroughbred deaths I read Colin Teese’s claim, “Today, all over Australia, there are races every day in every state”, on a day when there was one meeting in Victoria and one in New South Wales, with the same scheduled for the next day (News Weekly, November 16, 2019). No races either day in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland or Tasmania. Hardly a rare…

DEMOCRACY AND TRUTH: A Short History by Sophia Rosenfeld University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia Hardcover: 224 pages Price: AUD$43.90 Reviewed by Michael Quinlan Sophia Rosenfeld is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Her previous book, Common Sense: A Political History, won the Mark Lynton History Prize. In this short book, Rosenfeld seeks to show that the relationship…

LITERATURE THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH: An Anthology of EssaysFirst Things, New YorkPaperback: 191 pagesPrice: $US14.95 (AUD$26.83) (Available online at amazon.com.au) Reviewed by Jean Westbury The First Things anthology, Literature Through the Eyes of Faith, is comprised of 12 essays analysing the background and works of authors as diverse as Victor Hugo and P.G. Wodehouse. Like expert jewellers delving into…