Cirrus@Austlit

'Welcome to the March issue of Australian Book Review. Highlights include young Melbourne historian Samuel Watts’s shocked response to the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, to which he brings a needed historical perspective, reminding us that this was not the first time that racists and insurrectionists sought to disrupt the democratic process. Peter Tregear – at a time of great stress and uncertainty in the higher education sector – reviews a new history of Australian universities. Sarah Maddison reviews Henry Reynolds’s new book, in which he calls for ‘truth-telling’ about Australia’s history. Gerard Windsor reviews Murray Bail’s new memoir, He. Beejay Silcox reviews Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel, Klara and the Sun, and we also review fiction by Trevor Shearston, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Karen Wyld. Paul Kildea writes about the new production of Bitten’s opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Adelaide, and Michael Morley recalls the night he met John le Carré.' (Publication summary)