{"title":"John Birmingham","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Birmingham offers a compelling blend of genres, weaving together sharp political insight, gripping military history, and vivid adventure. His work spans richly imagined speculative fiction, exploring alternate futures and cosmic battles, as well as incisive commentaries on contemporary social and political issues. Readers can expect narratives that challenge perspectives while delivering thrilling storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom thought-provoking analyses in \u003cem\u003eOn One Nation and the rising right\u003c\/em\u003e to imaginative science fiction like \u003cem\u003eLeviathan\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Cruel Stars\u003c\/em\u003e, Birmingham's writing traverses real-world concerns and fantastical realms with equal skill. His books appeal to those interested in the intersections of politics, history, and speculative adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-time-for-war-by-john-birmingham-9781863951340","title":"A Time For War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eA Time For War: Australia as a Military Power\u003c\/em\u003e, John Birmingham ponders the Australian way of war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter East Timor and Bali, a combination of primal fear and primal ambition has transformed attitudes to our region, to security, and to war as an instrument of politics. Australian defence policy has become more assertive, and our armed forces are being radically restructured and hardened. Australia now has the capacity, and even the will, to act as a military power in its region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Time For War\u003c\/em\u003e begins with a gripping account of Operation Anaconda, the 2002 battle in Afghanistan to which Australian special forces made a crucial contribution. Birmingham also looks at our war dreaming—the sanctification of Anzac Day and the eclipse of the Vietnam Syndrome. Ranging from Sir John Monash to Peter Cosgrove, from Rudyard Kipling to \u003cem\u003eThe One Day of the Year\u003c\/em\u003e, he finds that our armed forces can now do no wrong, and that politicians have taken note. The new militarism is not simply a response to September 11, he argues—it marks a deeper shift in the culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"It being an RSL, we would stand each night at six o'clock for the prayer of remembrance. It was always a moving occasion, a strange suspended moment when the pokies and racing channel, the piped music and the drunken bullshitting all fell away... Friends from overseas who witnessed the quiet ceremony never failed to be impressed. One, a poet from Czechoslovakia, had always thought Australians to be a shallow, soulless, materialistic people, but she changed her mind after her first experience of the ode to the fallen among the half-empty schooners and chip packets.\" —John Birmingham, \u003cem\u003eA Time For War\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis issue also contains correspondence discussing \u003cem\u003eQuarterly Essay 19, Relaxed \u0026amp; Comfortable\u003c\/em\u003e, from David Kemp, Graham Richardson, David Corlett, Don Aitkin, Ian Marsh, Matthew Sharpe, and Judith Brett.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46343434535148,"sku":"9781863951340","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/17726113482851.jpg?v=1743995366"},{"product_id":"the-cruel-stars-by-john-birmingham-9781789545937","title":"The Cruel Stars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a ruthless sect of humanity intent on wiping out their species, five intrepid heroes must think like their enemies in this epic sci-fi adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey thought the Sturm were dead. They were wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCenturies after their defeat, the enemy has returned with an overwhelming attack on the fringes of human space. On the brink of annihilation, humankind's only hope is a few brave souls who survived the initial onslaught: Commander Lucinda Hardy, commander of the Royal Armadalen Navy's only surviving warship; Booker3, a soldier of Earth, sentenced to die for treason; Alessia, a young royal forced to flee when her home planet is overrun and her entire family executed; Sephina L'trel, the leader of an outlaw band.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd, finally, retired Admiral Frazer McLennan, the infamous hero of the first war with the Sturm, who hopes to rout his old foes once and for all – or die trying.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese five flawed, reluctant heroes must band together to prevail against a relentless enemy and near-impossible odds. For if they fail, the future itself is doomed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Cruel Stars\u003c\/em\u003e by John Birmingham offers an intense journey through the stars, where bravery and unity are the only defences against total obliteration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46706863046892,"sku":"9781789545937","price":22.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3902623482825.jpg?v=1754033514"},{"product_id":"the-shattered-skies-by-john-birmingham-9781789545975","title":"The Shattered Skies","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCenturies after they were defeated and exiled to dark space, The Sturm have returned. The Sturm, an empire of species purists, have come back from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a sneak attack on the galaxy-spinning networks, they overwhelmed almost all of humanity's defences, blasting dark code that transformed anyone connected to the system into a mindless psychotic killer. The Sturm's victory seemed complete, their final triumph inevitable, until one small band of intrepid, unlikely heroes struck back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCommander Lucinda Hardy and Admiral Frazer McLennan used the Armadalen Navy's final surviving warship to fend off the Sturm, destroying the massed power of an entire Attack Fleet. With brilliant tactics, this ragtag crew sent the Sturm running, managing to save Princess Alessia, the sole surviving heir to the gigantic Montanblanc Corporation and perhaps Earth's only remaining senator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow left with the remains of a fallen civilisation, they must work together to rebuild what was lost and root out the numberless enemies of Earth. The Sturm invaders remain vastly more powerful – and they may not be the only threat lurking in the darkness of space...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46708889518316,"sku":"9781789545975","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3903003482825.jpg?v=1754080235"},{"product_id":"appeasing-jakarta-by-john-birmingham-9781863953863","title":"Appeasing Jakarta","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the second \u003cem\u003eQuarterly Essay\u003c\/em\u003e, John Birmingham takes apart the folly of twenty-five years of Australian policy on East Timor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow did Gough Whitlam and Richard Woolcott in 1975 saddle this country with a policy that was bound to lead to the intervention of 1999? Why were shrewder voices ignored and why did we persist with an unworkable model? Where does this leave us with an Indonesia still dominated by the old power elites? And what was the tragedy like for the people of East Timor?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Birmingham has written a passionate narrative history of the East Timor question which never turns away from the slaughter and sorrow of the people who suffered it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAppeasing Jakarta\u003c\/em\u003e is an analysis of what happened in 1975 when we condoned Indonesia's intervention and what happened in 1999 when we stood against it. John Birmingham is deadly in his disdain for the way a defunct paradigm was clung to like a dogma. This is also an essay about the human cost, written in flowing colours with a strong narrative streak and a swashbuckling power of dispatch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e—Peter Craven, Introduction\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"It was a policy of wilful blindness, made possible only because we were always somewhere else when the trigger was pulled.\" —John Birmingham, \u003cem\u003eAppeasing Jakarta\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830107295980,"sku":"9781863953863","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/17751343482851.jpg?v=1758273882"},{"product_id":"stranger-thingies-by-john-birmingham-9781742235592","title":"Stranger Thingies","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Birmingham is a master of good writing and funny lines. He has written a thousand stories, some true, some not so much. These are the best ones and they're so good, and so funny, there has been no barrel-scraping involved. Really, \u003cem\u003eStranger Thingies\u003c\/em\u003e could have been much longer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe pieces contained within these pages run the gamut from the early felafel days to the shiny age we live in where Donald Trump is the President of the USA. And it does not shy away from the greatest controversy of our age: potato cake vs. potato scallop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese hilarious pieces cover a wide range of topics from food to fitness and politics to pork, in all its glories. And, of course, fashion. Ever the equal opportunist, John Birmingham skewers them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eListen to John Birmingham in discussion with Jon Faine on ABC's \u003cem\u003eThe Conversation Hour\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46998632202476,"sku":"9781742235592","price":87.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/8257603482808.jpg?v=1763223785"},{"product_id":"leviathan-by-john-birmingham-9780091842031","title":"Leviathan","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn electrifying, epic history of the city of Sydney as you have never seen her before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTo peer deeply into this ghost city, the one lying beneath the surface, is to understand that Sydney has a soul and that it is a very dark place indeed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeneath the shining harbour, amid the towers of global greed and deep inside the bad-drugs madness of the suburban wastelands, lies Sydney's shadow history. Terrifying tsunamis, corpse-robbing morgue staff, killer cops, neo-Nazis, power junkies, and bumbling SWOS teams electrify this epic tale of a city with a cold vacuum for a moral core.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Birmingham drills beneath the cover story of a successful multicultural metropolis and melts the boundaries between past and present to reveal a ghost city beneath the surface of concrete and glass. In Birmingham's alternative history of Sydney, the yawning chasm between the megarich and the lumpen masses is as evident in the insane wealth of the new elites as it was in the head-spinning rapacity of the NSW Rum Corps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a city shattered by the nexus between government, big money, and the underworld, where the glittering prizes go to the strong, not the just. Combining intensive research with the power of narrative, \u003cem\u003eLeviathan\u003c\/em\u003e offers a seductive invitation to step into the shadow lands of Australia's largest city.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072302661868,"sku":"9780091842031","price":30.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18766513482220.jpg?v=1765092742"},{"product_id":"the-shattered-skies-by-john-birmingham-9781789545968","title":"The Shattered Skies","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith their advanced tech rendered null by the Sturm's attack, humanity face certain annihilation. Their only hope lies with a few brave souls who survived the initial onslaught – these five heroes might be humanity's only hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCenturies after they were defeated and exiled to Dark Space, the Sturm have returned.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Sturm, an empire of species purists, have returned from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering. In a sneak attack, they overwhelmed almost all of humanity's defences, blasting vicious malware across galaxy-spanning networks: dark code that transformed anyone connected to the system into a mindless psychotic killer. The Sturm's victory seemed complete, their final triumph inevitable, until one small band of intrepid, unlikely heroes struck back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCommander Lucinda Hardy\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eAdmiral Frazer McLennan\u003c\/strong\u003e used the Armadalen Navy's final surviving warship to fend off the Sturm, destroying the massed power of an entire Attack Fleet. With brilliant tactics – and support from drunken, grief-ravaged pirate \u003cstrong\u003eSephina L'trel\u003c\/strong\u003e and treasonous battle-rig operator \u003cstrong\u003eBooker3\u003c\/strong\u003e – this ragtag crew sent the Sturm running, managing to save \u003cstrong\u003ePrincess Alessia\u003c\/strong\u003e, the sole surviving heir to the gigantic Montanblanc Corporation and perhaps Earth's only remaining senator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow left with the remains of a fallen civilization, they must work together to rebuild what was lost and root out the numberless enemies of Earth. The Sturm invaders remain vastly more powerful – and they may not be the only threat lurking in the darkness of space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47487650005228,"sku":"9781789545968","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/0b8788e193e606b0b9983b7186bebf7c.jpg?v=1775771270"},{"product_id":"how-to-be-a-writer-by-john-birmingham-9781742234847","title":"How to Be a Writer","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBeauty is good, but coin is better. You can't eat artistic integrity. It tastes like sawdust.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis gonzo guide is a lesson in the practicalities of writing: how to be productive, professional and maybe one day even pay the rent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTopics covered include 'How to slay writer's block', 'What the hell is workflow?', 'How to write 10,000 words in a day' and 'The best apps for writers'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHow to Be a Writer\u003c\/em\u003e is a kick-arse writing guide with a tough-love approach, written for the internet generation. John Birmingham is lauded as a prolific writer working across multiple genres. Here he shares his secrets. And some hard-core, real-world practical advice. And a few excellent descriptions of explosions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47558931120364,"sku":"9781742234847","price":87.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781742234847-how-to-be-a-writer.jpg?v=1776922918"},{"product_id":"the-shattered-skies-by-john-birmingham-9781789545951","title":"The Shattered Skies","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Shattered Skies\u003c\/em\u003e by John Birmingham\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCenturies after they were defeated and exiled to dark space, The Sturm have returned. The Sturm, an empire of species purists, have returned from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a sneak attack on the galaxy-spinning networks, they overwhelmed almost all of humanity's defences, blasting dark code that transformed anyone connected to the system into a mindless psychotic killer. The Sturm's victory seemed complete, their final triumph inevitable, until one small band of intrepid, unlikely heroes struck back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCommander Lucinda Hardy and Admiral Frazer McLennan used the Armadalen Navy's final surviving warship to fend off the Sturm, destroying the massed power of an entire Attack Fleet. With brilliant tactics, this ragtag crew sent the Sturm running, managing to save Princess Alessia, the sole surviving heir to the gigantic Montanblanc Corporation and perhaps Earth's only remaining senator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow left with the remains of a fallen civilisation, they must work together to rebuild what was lost and root out the numberless enemies of Earth. The Sturm invaders remain vastly more powerful – and they may not be the only threat lurking in the darkness of space...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47603281854700,"sku":"9781789545951","price":42.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781789545951-the-shattered-skies.jpg?v=1778059514"},{"product_id":"on-one-nation-and-the-rising-right-by-john-birmingham-9781760645823","title":"On One Nation and the rising right","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat's behind One Nation's surge?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe rise of the new right in Australia isn't a sudden eruption. In this brilliant essay, John Birmingham gives us the deep history and the present moment. Using personal stories, insights from political insiders and overarching analysis, he shows how the right has found a story to explain everything. Simple, visceral, wrong in all sorts of ways, but coherent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBirmingham charts the political earthquake as One Nation shatters the Liberal Party and examines where Australian politics goes from here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233143533804,"sku":"9781760645823","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781760645823-on-one-nation-and-the-rising-right-1.jpg?v=1787727175"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/john-birmingham.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}