Melbourne Publishing Group

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21 June 1964
'The Beatles' fly out of Australian after a successful concert tour.

29 November 1880 Notorious bushranger Ned Kelly captured by police, Glenrowan, Vic.

1 July 1932
Federal government forms the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

War is no longer about battlefields, it is now about propaganda itself; the ‘war against terror’ or the ‘jihad against crusaders’ is a struggle over symbolic resonance. Civilian casualities are simply a symbol that a blow has been struck: the more deaths, the stronger is the symbol. This is not a war that can be won or lost, it’s not a war that we can know is over, it is not a war of statistics, in fact, it is hardly a war at all. From Dark Angel,
by Lynette Finch.

Congratulations to Dean Wilson, author of The Beat, on its successful launch by Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon at the University of Melbourne. For an engaging and entertaining read about a early beat bobby's life, make sure you get your own copy now.

Australia and the World in the Twentieth Century David Lee

This book is brilliant. Insightful and comprehensive, it is simply the best-ever single-volume history of Australia's International relations. An instant classic, written by an acclaimed expert, it tells the story of how Australia consistently sought the best results for the country and how Prime Ministers and officials helped to influence the outcome of major world events throughout the century.

A Circa book. Paperback. RRP $36.95 To order

The Beat Policing a Victorian City Dean Wilson

A police officer in Melbourne at the end of the nineteenth century ideally had to be male, ‘well set-up’ physically, with a demeanour and attitude intended to command respect from those he might meet on his daily round — usually the routine ‘beat’ he trod around the city streets. This entertaining new book enters the daily lives of those colonial policemen, exploring the politics and personalities behind the scenes as the police force evolved from the community-based beat system of the goldrush era into the mechanised organisation of the early twentieth century.

A Circa book. Paperback. RRP $36.95 To order

Dark Angel Propaganda and Modern Warfare Lynette Finch

‘War is no longer about battlefields, it is now about propaganda itself.’
In this important new book, Dr Lynette Finch traces the origins and development of propaganda and media-manipulation from the 1800s to today’s ‘spin’ and public relations culture. She explains why governments in every part of the world, in the midst of major military conflicts, have considered it necessary to create a ‘suitable climate’ for sacrifice among their people.

A Circa book. Paperback. RRP $34.95 To order

The Greening of William Morris Sara Wills

'We must be very careful of bright greens’ said William Morris in 1880. At that time he was giving some handy hints about house decoration, but his words came at the start of a decade of social and political activity that would be held more than 100 years later as evidence of his involvement in early ‘green’ politics.
The Greening of William Morris follows the presence of nature in the work of this inspirational designer and philosopher and focuses on his many lectures and writings to prove that his context was nineteenth-century materialism and culture rather than modern-day conservation or eco-spiritualism.

A Circa book. Paperback. RRP $36.95 To order