Sapiens: A Graphic History - The Birth of Humankind - Volume 1 by Yuval Noah Harari; David Vandermeulen, Daniel Casanave

$39.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

The first volume of the graphic adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari's global phenomenon and smash Sunday Times #1 bestseller, with gorgeous full-colour illustrations and a beautiful package - the perfect gift for the curious beings in your life.One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one-homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?In this first volume of the full-colour illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind's creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human". From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens challenges us to reconsider accepted beliefs, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and view specific events within the context of larger ideas. Featuring 256 pages of full-colour illustrations and easy-to-understand text covering the first part of the full-length original edition, this adaptation of the mind-expanding book furthers the ongoing conversation as it introduces Harari's ideas to a wider new readership. ...Show more

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

$24.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY | Reading Level: near fine

#1 New York Times Bestseller From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1 international bestseller--that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human." One hundred thou sand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem. ...Show more

Fire Flood and Plague: Australian Writers Respond to This Extraordinary Year by Sophie Cunningham ed.

$29.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Writers, scientists, historians, journalists and commentators consider subjects as broad as culture and the arts, working as a doctor, travel, domestic violence, security, immigration, the death of a loved one, geopolitics, distance and zoom to ensure we never forget the experience of this pile-on of a year. Including original pieces from Lenore Taylor, Nyadol Nuon, Christos Tsiolkas, Melissa Lucashenko, Billy Griffiths, Jess Hill, Kim Scott, Brenda Walker, Jane Rawson, Omar Sakr, Richard McGregor, Jennifer Mills, Gabrielle Chan, John Birmingham, Tim Flannery, Rebecca Giggs, Kate Cole-Adams, George Megalogenis, James Bradley, Alison Croggan, Melanie Cheng, Kirsten Tranter, Tom Griffiths, Joelle Gergis and Delia Falconer.   ...Show more

Truth Is Trouble by Malcolm Knox

$32.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Why did the sacking of rugby player Israel Folau over his social media posts become one of the nation's most polarizing controversies? How could one man's religious views activate so many people in modern Australia? And what does the sides people found themselves on tell us about the kind of country we' ve become? Starting with this striking incident, triple Walkley Award winning journalist Malcolm Knox paints a vivid portrait of the divisions that underlie our recent history, from marriage equality to the covid lockdown. He shows how free speech has become the new flashpoint of the 'culture wars', and how it remains our deepest national faultline.   ...Show more

Liar's Circus: A Strange and Terrifying Journey Into the Upside-Down World of Trump's MAGA Rallies by Carl Hoffman

$29.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

In this work of daring and immersive contemporary anthropology, Carl Hoffman, who has written about the most dangerous and remote corners of the world, journeys deep inside Donald Trump's rallies seeking to understand the strange and powerful tribe that forms the president's base. This book proceeds fr om the premise that Donald J. Trump's rallies are a singular and defining force--a kind of Rosetta stone to understanding the Age of Trump. Yet while much remarked upon, the rallies are, in fact, little examined, with the focus almost always on Trump's latest outrageous statement. But who are the tens of thousands of people who fill America's stadiums and arenas? What do they see in Trump? And what curious alchemy--between president and adoring crowd--happens there that might explain Trump's rise? To those on the Left, the rallies are a Black Mass of American politics at which Trump plays high priest, recklessly summoning the darkest forces within the nation. To the MAGA faithful, the rallies are a form of pilgrimage, a joyous ceremony that like all rituals binds people together and makes them feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Both sides would acknowledge that this travelling roadshow (the Wall Street Journal reports there have been more than 550 ticketed campaign events since 2015) is the pressurised, combustible core of Trump's political power, a meeting of the faithful where Trump is unshackled and his rhetoric reaches its most extreme, with downstream consequences for the rest of the nation. To date, no reporter has sought to understand the rallies as a sociological phenomenon examined from the bottom up. In 2019, Carl Hoffman began to do just this and embedded himself in the Trump rallies. He has stood in line for days with crowds of supporters; he has traveled across the country from Minnesota to Texas to Mississippi interviewing hundreds of attendees and immersing himself in their culture. A former contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler, Hoffman has travelled to 80 countries on assignment; he has written about cannibals in New Guinea, Mumbai's railways (the deadliest in the world), and the indigenous tribes of Borneo. Now he trains his unique eye on his own country. ...Show more

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple

$22.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

THE TOP 5 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019 THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2019 A FINANCIAL TIMES, OBSERVER, DAILY TELEGRAPH, WALL STREET JOURNAL AND TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Dalrymple is a superb historian with a visceral understanding of India A book of beauty' o Gerard DeGroot, The Times In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish a new administration in his richest provinces. Run by English merchants who collected taxes using a ruthless private army, this new regime saw the East India Company transform itself from an international trading corporation into something much more unusual- an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business. William Dalrymple tells the remarkable story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power. ...Show more

The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy and Our Health - and How We Must Adapt by Sinan Aral

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

In this brilliant smart-thinking book about the power and influence of social media, Professor Sinan Aral shows how ‘hyper-socialization' has profoundly changed us. Why does fake news spread faster than the truth? Do products and ideas become popular because they are good or because they are rated high ly online? How does influence actually work and what does it mean to be influential? Which strategies and tactics can help businesses survive and thrive in the New Social Age? Human beings have always been a social species. We've been communicating and cooperating with one another since the dawn of time. But today, something is different. Over the last decade, we've doused the fire of human interaction with high octane gasoline. We've created technologies that massively amplify the ways in which we interact with one another, automated by machine intelligence that is designed to inform, stimulate and entertain us. Together these technologies constitute what Sinan Aral calls the ‘Hype Machine'. Digital platforms like Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter are injecting the influence of peers into our daily decisions, driving the products we buy, how we vote and even who we love. Packed with original research conducted by Aral and his team, The Hype Machine describes the impact of social media on statecraft, politics, voting, business and public health, and shows us how to adapt our society to the hyper-socialized state the Hype Machine has wrought. This is a fascinating book that provides counterintuitive and surprising answers to some of the most hotly debated topics of our connected, digital era, as it impacts society. ...Show more

Truth of the Palace Letters, The: Deceit, Ambush and Dismissal in 1975 by Paul Kelly; Troy Bramston

$29.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

In July 2020 the National Archives of Australia released the long-suppressed correspondence between Sir John Kerr and Queen Elizabeth II, written during Kerr's tumultuous tenure as Governor-General of Australia. The letters cover the constitutional crisis that culminated in Kerr's infamous dismissal of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975. In The Truth of the Palace Letters Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston reveal their meaning and significance for understanding the dismissal. The analysis of these documents and their authors throws a revealing light on the connection between the Queen in Buckingham Palace and the Governor-General in Canberra. Coupled with newly discovered archival documents and interviews, Kelly and Bramston explain the implications of the letters for our Constitution, our democracy and the republic debate. ...Show more

What Ever Happened to Ned Kelly's Head? by Eamon Evans

$29.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Prince Andrew: Epstein and the Palace by Nigel Cawthorne

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Buckingham Palace’s greatest fear came true when the FBI arrested Prince Andrew’s friend Jeffrey Epstein on charges of under-age sex trafficking. Just before the marriage of Kate and Wills, a snapshot of Andrew with his arm around the naked midriff of the billionaire’s most articulate victim had surface d. Despite sending stringent defamation warnings, the palace had been powerless to prevent headlines on the controversial friendship from moving in its direction like a hurricane. Prince Andrew: The End of the Monarchy and Epstein investigates the story of the key players and allegations and counter-allegations in this unique, high-stakes royal drama. It provides a gripping and uncommon insight into the hidden privileges enjoyed by global power brokers, royalty and billionaires. Transcending the life of one man, it characterises a whole institution and a way of life — the monarchy as we know it today. Prince Andrew’s official involvement with UK trade came to an abrupt end in 2010 when the prince was overheard discussing Saudi bribery and bribery in Kyrgyzstan, arguing that ‘people should be allowed to get on with their jobs’. And that was only the beginning of Buckingham Palaces headaches. ...Show more

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

$35.00 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

Not being racist is not enough. We have to be antiracist. In this rousing and deeply empathetic book, Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracism Research and Policy Center, shows that when it comes to racism, neutrality is not an option: until we become part of the solution, we can only be par t of the problem. Using his extraordinary gifts as a teacher and story-teller, Kendi helps us recognise that everyone is, at times, complicit in racism whether they realise it or not, and by describing with moving humility his own journey from racism to antiracism, he shows us how instead to be a force for good. Along the way, Kendi punctures all the myths and taboos that so often cloud our understanding, from arguments about what race is and whether racial differences exist to the complications that arise when race intersects with ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality. In the process he demolishes the myth of the post-racial society and builds from the ground up a vital new understanding of racism - what it is, where it is hidden, how to identify it and what to do about it. ...Show more

The Snowy: A History by Siobhán McHugh

$34.99 AUD

Category: POLITICS & HISTORY

The Snowy - A History tells the extraordinary story of the mostly migrant workforce who built one of the world's engineering marvels. This classic, prize-winning account of the remarkable Snowy Scheme is available again for the 70th anniversary of this epic nation-building project. The Snowy Scheme was an extraordinary engineering feat carried out over twenty-five years from 1949 to 1974, one that drove rivers through tunnels built through the Australian alps, irrigated the dry inland and generated energy for the densely populated east coast. The Snowy Mountains Scheme was also a site of post-war social engineering that helped create a diverse multicultural nation. Siobhan McHugh's in-depth interviews with those who were there at the time reveals the human stories of migrant workers, high country locals, politicians and engineers. It also examines the difficult and dangerous aspects of such a major construction in which 121 men lost their lives. Rich and evocative, this sweeping narrative tells stories of love, endurance, tragedy and hard work during a transformative time. ...Show more