28 April 2013
The renowned director’s new film, which uses the socialist mood of 1945 to assail the world Margaret Thatcher created, is bad history and worse politics, says David Hayes
Books & arts
28 April 2013
Duncan Hewitt reviews two witty new books about China’s faultlines and prospects
National affairs
24 April 2013
The State Library of New South Wales’s breathtaking trove of photographs from the 1870s
Books & arts
18 April 2013
Rome’s greatest orator has a message for the current generation of political leaders, says Brett Evans
Books & arts
19 March 2013
Sylvia Lawson on the ABC’s triumphant return to the Opera House
National affairs
5 March 2013
Like Australia, Britain decided to make it harder for new arrivals to become citizens. Kerry Ryan looks at the mixed results
Books & arts
27 February 2013
New cinema releases reviewed by Sylvia Lawson
Books & arts
12 February 2013
Chris Lydgate reviews a new biography of Stamford Raffles, the contradictory colonialist who founded Singapore, and an account of a trip through the modern-day city state…
From the archive
19 December 2012
What happened when journalist Peter Coleman assembled a star-studded group of writers in 1962 to rethink the way intellectuals viewed Australia?
3 December 2012
An endless recession has changed politics and livelihoods. But in a many-sided national argument there is no consensus about its lessons, says David Hayes
Essays & reportage
29 November 2012
Not only was the 1972 election a watershed for Labor, it also created the modern political campaign
National affairs
28 October 2012
Two key figures in the postwar development of the Labor Party never met, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
17 October 2012
Are the intriguing revelations from the notebooks of Paul Hasluck part of a larger trove, asks Paul Rodan
From the archive
25 July 2012
The Liberals’ innovative 1949 election campaign offered voters an alternative worldview
Essays & reportage
4 July 2012
Born to a free-thinking family in Melbourne around 1860, William Chidley became an energetic campaigner with some surprisingly respectable supporters, writes Frank …
Books & arts
28 June 2012
Ian McShane reviews Henry Reynolds’s new history of his home state
Books & arts
28 June 2012
Dean Ashenden looks at Australians’ enthusiasm for new foods and our readiness to adapt, improvise and reinvent
National affairs
5 June 2012
A timeless guide for politicians with a sting in the tail
31 May 2012
A recent French exhibition traced the rise of the photograph as a proof of identity and a form of surveillance, writes Daniel Nethery
Essays & reportage
28 February 2012
Ken Inglis and Bill Gammage pay tribute to the distinguished historian, and occasional Inside Story contributor, Hank Nelson, who died earlier this month
1 February 2012
Shanghai doesn’t understand the appeal of its oldest precinct, writes Duncan Hewitt
Essays & reportage
24 January 2012
Australia’s attachment to a flag with the Union Jack in the top corner puts it in odd company
1 November 2011
An encampment around St Paul’s Cathedral in London casts a new light on this icon of British wartime defiance. But the epic days of the 1940s may have something to teach the…
National affairs
6 October 2011
Out of the clash of interests in federal parliament in 1911 came an enduring electoral reform, writes Brian Costar. An update is long overdue
Books & arts
5 October 2011
Susan K. Martin and Kylie Mirmohamadi look at a sub-genre of popular writing that spanned the globe from London to Melbourne
Essays & reportage
4 October 2011
Fifty years ago Australia’s major parties had limited resources and few staff. But one party had an edge over the other, writes Don Whitington in this essay first…
National affairs
20 September 2011
Sixty years ago, H.V. Evatt successfully resisted strong public support for draconian anti-communist legislation, writes Frank Bongiorno. Is there a lesson for Labor in 2011?
Books & arts
16 September 2011
Julia Clancy-Smith’s Mediterraneans looks at a neglected period with contemporary resonance, writes Lorenzo Veracini
Books & arts
13 September 2011
Judith Brett reviews Heather Henderson’s collection of letters from her father, Robert Menzies
Essays & reportage
25 August 2011
Manning Clark went on a grand quest, writes Nicholas Gruen. But perhaps it was the journey rather than the arrival that mattered