Book Review: Bench and Book. Courts, Cases, Verdicts, Diaries, Letters Memories by Nicholas Hasluck, first published by Arcadia 2021.ISBN 978-1-922669-12-4. To produce this interesting book Nicholas Hasluck draws upon his diaries in the first two years he spent as a Supreme Court judge in Western Australia :2000-2001. [...] Continue Reading…

calculus; n [orig. Latin meaning a small stone used in reckoning with an abacus] a particular method or system of calculation or reasoning.

What do a woman hit by a cricket ball in 1947 while standing outside a cricket ground in Manchester[1], damage by fire to two ships in 1951 in Mort Bay Sydney Harbour[2] and a water skiing accident in Tuggerah Lakes[3] in 1967 have to do with the COVID-19 pandemic? [...] Continue Reading…

PRINCE ALBERT, the man who saved the monarchy.

Prince Albert was born more than 200 years ago and died at the relatively young age of 42. How then is A.N. Wilson’s biography of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, of any interest to us today?

In order to fully appreciate the world we live in, we need to understand the forces which shaped it. Prince Albert’s achievements and failures were major contributors to the making of our world. [...] Continue Reading…

A short article, written by law student Oscar Pursey for the Workplace Review.

During the late 2nd century, the Antonine Plague crippled the Ancient Roman Empire at the very peak of its power. Believed to have been brought back by Roman legions from military campaigns along the Silk Road, the Antonine lasted over 15 years and killed around a third of the population in certain areas. Some historians have marked the pandemic in antiquity as the beginning of Rome’s famous decline. Others prefer to view it as evidence of the Roman people’s resolve, foregrounding the Empire’s rebirth and ability to rule beyond the plague for another two and a half centuries. While interpretations of the pandemic may differ, historians concur on one key point: life after Antonine for the Roman people was never the same. [...] Continue Reading…

A book review of “Going Under” by Sonia Henry

Sonia Henry’s debut novel called “Going Under”, described as a novel of sex, death and doctors, describes the life of a junior doctor in a large teaching hospital in Sydney.

The teaching hospital is Holy Innocents Hospital, a thinly disguised St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst is the scene of the action. The heroine of the tale is Dr Katrina ‘Kitty’ Holliday. The novel as a work of fiction, describes the anxiety and tension suffered by junior doctors in the Australian medical system. At a time during the COVID-19 crisis, when focus has been placed upon the medical profession, this novel casts a sharp light upon the travails of junior doctors. [...] Continue Reading…