Cirrus@Austlit

'Historical fiction frequently leads the reader into dark places. Chris Womersley’s haunting novel City of Crows will take you into a nightmare labyrinth where superstition rules and where it seems the Devil calls the tune. The novel recounts the journey of the young widow Charlotte Picot from the south of France to Paris in 1673. There’s murder, child sacrifice, witchcraft, plague, poison, black magic, abortion, executions, torture and Tarot (with pictures). And crows and rats, which provide the occasion for the use of the wonderful verb ‘‘to skitter’’.' (Introduction)

'The moon landing was an American-led space adventure but it also shone a spotlight on an Australian scientific success story.

'The Parkes radio telescope in rural NSW became world famous when, in July 1969, it relayed Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon.

'Science writer Peter Robertson is known for his 1992 book on the telescope, Beyond Southern Skies. He spent much of his working life with the CSIRO Publishing group in Melbourne. Now he has written a fine biography of one of the Western world’s leading radio astronomers, John Gatenby Bolton.' (Introduction)