Bøger udgivet af Black Inc.

Confrontations between Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd activists make for exciting news reports during the Australian summer. But the sensational headlines and dramatic footage - eco warriors pitted against the might of the Japanese state - fail to scratch the surface of the complex forces that drive each side's actions.

Winner of the 2013 ACT Book of the Year Award Cross-dressing convicts, effeminate bushrangers and women-shortage woes - here is the first ever history of sex in Australia, from Botany Bay to the present-day. In this fascinating social history, Frank Bongiorno uses striking examples to chart the changing sex lives of Australians. Tracing the story up to the present, Bongiorno shows how the quest for respectability always has another side to it. Along the way he deals with some intriguing questions - What did it mean to be a 'mate'? How did modern warfare affect soldiers' attitudes to sex? Why did the law ignore lesbianism for so long? - and introduces some remarkable characters both reformers and radicals. This is a thought-provoking and enlightening journey through the history of sex in Australia. With a foreword by Michael Kirby, AC CMG. Praise for The Sex Lives of Australians: 'Remarkable and highly readable' - Michael Kirby 'A great book, a compound of wit and tragedy, as you'd expect from the subject matter, plus wide learning and common sense.' - Alan Atkinson, author of The Europeans in Australia 'The Sex Lives of Australians is such a treasure trove that it is hard to do it justice ... a work of real significance that makes a fresh contribution to understanding our culture.' - the Australian 'This is highly readable, serious history about our most intimate yet most culturally sensitive selves.' - the Canberra Times 'A fascinating tale.' - the Sydney Morning Herald 'An engaging book...both educational and entertaining' - the Daily Telegraph 'Entertaining, enlightening, infuriating and frequently hilarious. Highly recommended.' - MX Sydney Awards: Winner of the 2013 ACT Book of the Year Award. Shortlisted for the Australian History Prize in the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Shortlisted for the Australian History Prize in the 2013 NSW Premier's History Awards.

Presenting the one and only Mr Paul Keating - at his straight-shooting, scumbag-calling, merciless best. Paul lets rip - on John Howard: 'The little desiccated coconut is under pressure and he is attacking anything he can get his hands on.' On Peter Costello: 'The thing about poor old Costello is he is all tip and no iceberg.

Indonesia, a nation of thousands of islands and almost 250 million people, straddles the junction of the Pacific and Indian oceans. The world's biggest Muslim nation has long been one of Australia's important strategic partners, and the relationship has become closer - if occasionally fraught - under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A delightful portrait gallery that evokes a turbulent time. In The Whitlam Mob, Mungo gives a sharp, witty and very personal account of the main characters of the Whitlam years - from Gough and Margaret to Lionel Murphy, Bill Hayden and Jim Cairns.

Good drinkers, bad swimmers and unlikely heroes Since Australia's birth in 1901, twenty-eight politicians have run the national show. Their time at the top has ranged from eight days for Frank Forde to eighteen years for Bob Menzies. But whatever the length of their term, each Prime Minister has a story worth sharing.

In this timely Quarterly Essay, Andrew Charlton demolishes some myths about Australia's long boom. Around 2000 Australia's economy became tied to the supercharged rise of China. We had the good fortune to have exactly the resources it wanted.

'Just a little way down Collins Street, beside Henry Buck's, is a perpetually dark but sheltered laneway called Equitable Place. Here you'll find a number of places to eat and drink. Settle yourself in the window of one, shut your eyes, and picture this scene of yore ...

'Old landmarks fall in nearly every block ... and the face of the city is changing so rapidly that the time is not too far distant when a search for a building 50 years old will be in vain.' - Herald, 1925. The demolition firm of Whelan the Wrecker was a Melbourne institution for a hundred years (1892-1992).

In Quarterly Essay 53, Paul Toohey looks at one of Tony Abbott's signature promises: to stop the boats. Has his government succeeded? If so, at what cost? In Java, Toohey observes asylum seekers heading for Australia and reports on the Indonesian response.

This is not a book of documents, snippets or worthy speeches. Instead it presents the original essays and the moments of insight that told us what Australia is and could be.

'This year an Anzac orgy begins. A commemorative program that would make the pharaohs envious. But commemorating soldiers is not the same as connecting with them ...

Whether we're aware of it or not, we spend much of our time in this globalised world lost in translation. Language is a big part of it, of course, as anyone who has fumbled with a phrasebook in a foreign country will know, but behind language is something far more challenging to translate: culture.

After the resources boom, where is Australia heading? Australians have just lived through a period of exceptional prosperity, but we can no longer assume that living standards will inevitably keep rising. Commodity prices are dropping and the boom is set to end. Are we ready for the challenges ahead?

Cardinal George Pell is the most prominent Catholic leader in Australia at a time when Church's handling of sexual abuse is being closely investigated. He is also the confessor of prime-minister-in-waiting Tony Abbott. A news-breaking and definitive portrait of Pell, at a time of maximum tension and scrutiny for both him and the church.

Girt. No word could better capture the essence of Australia...In this hilarious history, David Hunt tells the real story of Australia's past from megafauna to Macquarie ... the cock-ups and curiosities, the forgotten eccentrics and Eureka moments that have made us who we are.

Is Australia fair enough? And why does inequality matter anyway? In Battlers and Billionaires, Andrew Leigh weaves together vivid stories, interesting history and powerful statistics to discuss why inequality matters -- both why it can be good, and why it can be harmful. This is economics writing at its best.

A powerful and impressive debut from one of Australia's most exciting young writers -- for fans of Alice Munro, Nam Le, Lorrie Moore and Jennifer Egan

Western women today have unprecedented freedom and power. In Australia we have a female prime minister and governor-general; women are at the forefront of almost every area of public life. Yet when Julia Gillard's misogyny speech ricocheted around the world, it clearly touched a nerve.

This essay is both a wake-up call to the consequences of unrestrained development, and an examination of the underlying thinking -- the view of the natural world that sees it as something either to be put to use or traded off. By contrast, Flannery asks, how might we best understand, conserve and co-exist with the natural world?

Quarterly Essay is a trailblazing Australian journal of politics and culture. Each issue contains a single essay written at a length of about 25,000 words, followed by correspondence on previous essays.

In Mine-Field, Paul Cleary counts the true human and economic costs of Australia's short-term mineral addiction.

Is there an Australian national character? What are its distinguishing features? Over the years, how have insiders and outsiders summed up this country and its people? John Hirst gathers together the key assessments of the national character, on topics as diverse as sport, war, mateship, humour, put-downs, suburbia and going native.

Although a self-proclaimed conservative, Hirst's work has received high praise from historians ranging from Don Watson to Stuart MacIntyre. This book collects key pieces on convict society, the pioneer legend, Australian egalitarianism, the republican movement and more.

This is a roller-coaster ride through the history and present of popular music. Robert Forster was a Go-Between and now has an acclaimed solo career. But in recent times he has established himself as one of the finest music critics in the business. This book gathers that writing into an entertaining whole and also includes several new pieces.