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Honouring a Nation: A History of Australia's Honours System: By Karen Fox. For this reader, the most interesting and insightful chapters were six, where Fox outlines the Whitlam government's campaign for an Australian honours system, and seven, which explores the fierce debates over the nature of the system from 1975 to 1990. Fox is more nuanced in her reading of the saga and places it in the longer context of Australia's messy use of honours to find an identity in a post-imperial world. [Extracted from the article]

While stating that he does not necessarily 'subscribe to the view that a publisher has a confidential relationship with an author' (148), Munro argues that 'if the publisher-author relationship is one of mutual trust and support, then Ryan clearly transgressed' (148). Doug Munro offers a restrained and reflective account of Peter Ryan's surprising, tasteless and relentless posthumous attack on the person and writings of Manning Clark. History Wars: The Peter Ryan - Manning Clark Controversy: By Doug Munro. [Extracted from the article]

The women broadcasters in Fisher's study were confident in their belief that they were educating Australian women on important issues. Where she does have access to audio recordings, Fisher's readings of them are careful and assured, and she is attentive to the ways historians can "hear" radio broadcasts through close reading of scripts and listener comments. Sound Citizens: Australian Women Broadcasters Claim Their Voice, 1923-1956: By Catherine Fisher. [Extracted from the article]

The diverse perspectives work well, collectively, to unpack the stereotypical, reductionist and racialised constructions and framing of refugees and asylum seekers in Australian public discourse. Refugee Journeys: Histories of Resettlement, Representation and Resistance: Edited by Jordana Silverstein and Rachel Stevens. The book collection brings together diverse perspectives and research on the historical trajectories of asylum-seeker policies, mapping out the underlying ideological and political forces behind these policies. [Extracted from the article]

It is Foley's contribution that makes the book particularly distinct from other major works on the history of Aboriginal Sydney such as Heather Goodall and Allison Cadzow's I Rivers of Resilience i (2009) and Grace Karskens' I The Colony i (2010). What the Colonists Never Knew: A History of Aboriginal Sydney: By Dennis Foley and Peter Read. It weaves in and out between scholar of Gai-mariagal and Wiradjuri heritage Dennis Foley's history telling on the one hand, and on the other a wider historical context of Aboriginal Sydney provided by Read. [Extracted from the article]

Where Aboriginal people are successful, as Sol Bellear is shown to have been in shaping the Redfern Statement (Jakubowicz 99-116), Aboriginal actors are again marginalised to become little more than bit-players for the focal non-Aboriginal figures. Does the Media Fail Aboriginal Political Aspirations? These may reiterate narratives of Aboriginal incapacity or argue that Aboriginal people are most successful when subordinating their goals to non-Aboriginal leadership or interests. [Extracted from the article]

As Chynoweth states, a witnessing of these histories is an important step in identifying the responsibility of past (and recent) leadership at the national level. Chynoweth has also included "witnesses" to this past. The girls in this history are survivors, and are described as such by Chynoweth. [Extracted from the article]