While clear-eyed about the country’s injustices, Melville never succumbed to cynicism. On the author’s bicentennial, American readers could use a dose of his ability to fuse realism with idealism.
In 1918, in Wünsdorf prisoner-of-war camp, a German sculptor created a bust of Indigenous soldier Douglas Grant. For decades, the whereabouts of this nationally significant sculpture were unknown - until now.
In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Anzac stories are often coloured by racism and ongoing injustices that negate the myth of Anzac ‘mateship’.
Army ration biscuits known as ‘Anzac tiles’ were durable but bland - as Australian war archives show, they served as stationery, Christmas cards and as the basis of art.
The first world war spurred a host of developments in the fields of science, medicine and architecture. Alongside these came new qualifications and professions, such as physiotherapy.
Since the end of the first world war, the Australian media has often reported that ‘the French’ care about, remember and even venerate the Anzacs. But is this true? And which French people?
Michael Haneke’s allegorical 2009 film showed how a peaceful society can be shattered within a single generation. It’s a lesson for us now in a world drifting toward populism and violence.
Ellen N. La Motte’s ‘The Backwash of War’ was praised for its clear-eyed portrayal of war, but was swiftly banned. Yet the similarities between her spare prose and Hemingway’s are unmistakable.
While many countries across Eastern Europe celebrate 100 years since they were born or restored as nation-states after the First World War, not everyone in these states are celebrating.
It was 100 years ago this month that Benito Mussolini created the fascist party in Italy. Today, his life offers cautionary lessons for contemporary politics.