The Shearers and The Hired Man Books Reviewed
A critical look at Rayner Heppenstall and Melyx Bragg novels set in northern England. The Shearers fragments a court drama with a history of depravity and incest, while The Hired Man follows a Cumberland farm laborer’s hard life amid early 20th century industrial shifts. The reviews praise Bragg’s firm rural realism and critique Heppenstall’s disintegrating form and provocative thesis.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
the Shearers
Rayner Heppenstall
Hansish Hamilton
Melyx
Bragg, Secker and Warburg
England
Hired Man
Cumberland
Yorkshire
Justa
Pamela Hansford Johnson
Heppenstall
Thase
Poets and verse in vital varied Australian poetry 1969 edition
Vivian Smith selects a large, diverse Australian poetry anthology. The 1969 volume features 68 poems by 47 poets, including substantial work from Fitzgerald Hope Stewart Wright Porter Manifold Crabb e Dawe Harwood Lehmann Stow Murray and others. The collection touts liveliness, variety, strong grouping, and notable pieces across satire irony and free verse.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Vivian Smith
Lucky
Robert D. Fitzgerald
A. D. Hope
Douglas Stewart
Fitzgerald
Josels Asasela
Pacific
Arctic
Ledith Wright
Kennedy
Abe
Jack
Peter Porter
John Manifold
Chris Wallace-Crabbe
Rodney Hall
Bruce Heaver
Bruce Dawe
McAuley
Jones
Cri Fe
Hart-Smith
Gwen Harwood
Geoffrey Lehmann
Siding Spring
Randolph Stow
The
Hebrides
Les Murray
Enticing world book clubs fade as US market shrinks
The piece surveys the rise and decline of book clubs from World Books to BOMC, noting peak circulation in the 1940s and a 1960s shift with US publishers. It highlights Harry Sherman’s long influence, Folio Society’s prestige, and various clubs offering diverse memberships, poems, and rare editions while praising the clubby reading culture.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Britain
Australia
World Books
Thean
Doub
W.H
United States
Sherman
Canada
Folio Society
Reissue of Classics Adds Notable Soviet Works
George Katkov Russia 1917 is back in a Fontana paperback with 623 pages priced at $1.90. A reprint of Pasternak Dr Zhivago 608 pages at $1.30, plus Care’s The Bolshevik Revolution 1917 1923 400 pages at $1.70. Also Cobban Nation State and National Self Determination 318 pages $1.25, Che Guevara speeches edited by Gerassi 606 pages $1.85.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George Katkov
Russia
Collins
Fontana
Boris Pasternak
Dr Zhivago
Pelican
E. H. Care
Soviet Russia
Penguin
Alfred Cobban
Che Guevara
John Gerassi
Panther
A shadowy but profitable business THE WAR BUSINESS
George Thayer surveys the global arms trade from ancient merchants to modern magnates. The book traces private and governmental arms flows, noting figures like Samuel Cummings of Interarms and historic players such as Morgan and Vickers. It argues for restrained, UN-led cooperation to curb the weapon trade while detailing economic and geopolitical drivers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George Thayer
United States
John Pierpont Morgan
Winchester
Remington Arms
du Pont
Basil
Sir Basil
Zaharot
Vickers
Manim
Russia
Turkey
Greece
Samuel Cummings
Interarms
USA
Cummings
Shaw
Barbara
Thayer
Vulgar but not indecent Norman Lindsay watercolors book review
A 1969 Ure Smith edition collects 19 Norman Lindsay watercolors with 26 pages of commentary. The review notes Rubens and Goya influences, Lindsay’s social commentary, and professional art technique. It weighs the book as a memorial to a controversial artist after Lindsay’s death, praising some elements while critiquing the biographical essay.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Norman Lindsay
Ure Smith
London
Sir William Orpen
Lindsay
Australia
America
Norman — Lindsay
Rubens
Goya
The
Bulletin
Blamire Young
Godfrey Blunden
Darwin and the Beagle by Alan Moorehead review
A lively illustrated critique of Darwin and the Beagle by Alan Moorehead. The book is praised for visuals and easy narrative but called insubstantial for deeper scientific challenge. It overplays isolated peaks of great minds and misaligns some map details with text.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cook
Shakespeare
Moorehead
Darwin
Bishop Wilberforce
Soapy Sam
Thomas Huxley
Oxford
British Association
Fitzroy
HMS
Beagle
Mooreheads
Tewure
Tierra del Fuego
Straits of Magellan
Cape Horn
Straits
Augustus Earle
Tahiti
William Hodges
Gould
Terra Incognita
South America
Darwin and the
Also Mentioned on This Page
Shearers
C. P. Snow
Lady Snow
Brady
Hindley
Shearer
India
Sydney
Bragg
T. Inglis Moore
Angus, and Robertson
Althoud
Hope
Dnlst
Uhouan
el Dorado
Angus
Robertson
Technical College
East Row
Civic
Green Square
Kingston
Atlis
Dickens
J. B. Priestley
Maugham
New York
Mystic ‘Arts
Accountants Book Club
Circuit Design Book Club
Gambler's, Book Club
Horseman's Book Society
Last Book Club
Harvard Classics
San
United Francisco
Tam
Karamazo
Fielding
Defoe
the Brontes
Maurice Dunlevy
Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Biafra
Hhr
Middle East
Israel
Cherbourg
By George Stern
United Nations
By Francis West
Alan Moorehead
Hamis Hamilton
Newton
Spate
Sion
Usher
Hunton Lyell
Playfair
Homme Sey Boke
Crawford Street
Verity Hewitt PY
Queanbeyan
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