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First Post
19 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
History Today: How the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo sparked World War I
On June 28, 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo triggered a chain reaction that lead to World War I. This pivotal moment shattered European stability and ushered in a global conflict that reshaped the 20th Century read more The first page of the edition of the Domenica del Corriere, an Italian paper, with a drawing by Achille Beltrame depicting Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. As part of Firstpost's History Today series, June 28 stands out as a day that dramatically shaped global history across centuries. On this date in 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo ignited a chain of events that led to World War I. Five years later, on June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, formally ending the conflict. Decades later, the day also saw the eruption of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 — catalysing the modern LGBTQ rights movement. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And in 1997, the infamous moment when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear during a boxing match. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand On June 28, 1914, a seemingly small, yet pivotal act of violence in Sarajevo sparked a chain reaction across Europe, ultimately igniting the conflagration known as World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated in an event that has since been studied as the flashpoint of modern history. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, born in 1863, served as Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces. While conservative and militaristic by temperament, he was an advocate for systemic reforms aimed at modernising the empire and granting greater autonomy to Slavic minorities. He and Sophie's marriage had endured the scrutiny of imperial aristocracy. Sophie, not from a reigning noble family, was often marginalised at court despite the couple's devotion . The date chosen for their visit — June 28, 1914, coinciding with St Vitus's Day (Vidovdan) — was loaded with symbolism. It commemorated the 1389 Serbian defeat in Kosovo, connecting present-day Serb nationalist sentiment with historical grievance. The visit was intended to bolster imperial authority in Bosnia, formally annexed in 1908, on the anniversary of Bosnia's 1878 occupation — another symbolic affront to Serbian nationalists. At the time, Sarajevo was simmering with discontent. Bosnian Serbs and Yugoslav nationalists sought liberation from Austro-Hungarian rule and unification with Serbia. Influential nationalist and paramilitary groups like the Black Hand (Ujedinjenje ili Smrt) fostered militant sentiment and trained operatives for political violence. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb, joined Young Bosnia, a youth movement advocating Slavic unity. Princip and his five co-conspirators, equipped with bombs and pistols, trained and prepared for the assassination in discrete training camps, some allegedly sponsored by Serbian military factions. The royal procession began with high optimism. At approximately 10:15 am, Nedeljko Čabrinović seized the first opportunity, hurling a grenade at the Archduke's vehicle. Misjudging the motorcade's speed and configuration, the grenade bounced off the fold-down hood, exploding under the next car — injuring bystanders and driver but missing Franz Ferdinand. Despite the attack, Franz Ferdinand continued to the Town Hall for an impromptu reception, demonstrating both his bravery and obliviousness to the day's threats. Afterward, a fatal navigation error — possibly due to miscommunication in translation — led the motorcade to make a sudden right turn, pausing directly in front of Gavrilo Princip. Seizing the moment, Princip fired two shots at point-blank range: one fatally striking Franz Ferdinand in the jugular, the other hitting Sophie in the abdomen. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The couple collapsed instantly. The world had changed irreversibly. Princip was detained immediately, still near the scene. He later confessed freely at his trial, citing patriotism and intention to liberate South Slavs from oppression. Younger than 20, he avoided the death penalty and received 20 years — ultimately dying of tuberculosis in prison in 1918. The Austro-Hungarian response was swift and severe. General Oskar Potiorek, local governor, authorised anti-Serb pogroms in Sarajevo, resulting in widespread destruction of property, detentions and fatalities. Austria-Hungary, backed by Germany, issued a rigid ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914, loaded with demands designed to be impossible to fulfill . Although Serbia conceded on most points, it refused to accept all terms — especially foreign judicial oversight — and Russia began partial mobilisation to protect its Slavic ally. Germany, interpreting this as hostility toward Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. France and Britain, bound by alliances and strategic considerations, followed suit. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD By August 4, Europe was at war — not over Sarajevo but over a tangled web of alliances, militarism, imperial ambition and nationalism. World War I became the first truly industrialised global war. It introduced trench warfare, machine guns, chemical agents, tanks, naval blockades, aerial combat and battlefield medicine — all emerging during the war. Over 16 million perished — nearly 10 million military and close to 7 million civilians — along with the downfall of empires: Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Russian and German . Culturally, the war produced a devastating rupture — seen in literature and art such as All Quiet on the Western Front and Dadaist movements. It fuelled revolutions, including in Russia, and laid ideological groundwork for fascism, communism and Nazism. Historiography continues to debate Princip's legacy. In Serbia, he is often hailed as a hero of national liberation; in Bosnia and Croatia, views remain critical, seeing him as extremist. A 2015 monument in Belgrade sparked controversy, highlighting divergent regional narratives. Historians also question fatal flaws in Austria-Hungary's diplomacy and the rigidity of alliances — like clockwork mobilisations turning minor crises into world war . STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Today, Sarajevo memorialises the assassination site with plaques and museums. A Sarajevo museum stands in the building where Franz Ferdinand was mortally wounded, and a statue of Princip in Istočno Sarajevo incites contested memory. Mike Tyson bites off part of Evander Holyfield's ear On June 28, 1997, aka The Bite Fight, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield squared off in Las Vegas during their WBA Heavyweight rematch. In the third round, a frustrated Tyson sank his teeth into Holyfield's right ear, tearing off a piece before biting again. Referee Mills Lane halted the match, disqualifying Tyson. The incident was a career-defining scandal — Tyson had his license revoked and paid a $3 million fine. Holyfield's ear was surgically reattached. Tyson later justified his actions, claiming frustration over Holyfield's alleged headbutts. The bizarre moment remains one of boxing's most infamous highlights. Stonewall Riots begin In the early hours of June 28, 1969, NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York. Patrons — tired of continual harassment — fought back, triggering violent clashes that lasted nearly a week. Though not the first LGBTQ protest, Stonewall is heralded as the flashpoint for the modern gay rights movement. The spontaneous resistance inspired pride marches, advocacy groups and landmark legal battles. Its legacy endures: June is recognised as Pride Month, and the event is commemorated through global rallies and educational efforts . STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Treaty of Versailles signed On June 28, 1919, exactly five years after Franz Ferdinand's assassination, Allied and Associated powers signed the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The treaty imposed several punitive measures on Germany: the notorious War Guilt Clause (Article 231), substantial reparations, restrictions on military capabilities and loss of territory and overseas colonies Though hailed by Allied leaders as necessary to secure peace, it sowed deep resentment in Germany and contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler and WWII. Despite its intentions to prevent future wars, the treaty is widely regarded as overly punitive. While the US Senate declined to ratify it, others adhered. The treaty took effect on January 10, 1920, shaping the interwar world. With inputs from agencies
Emirates Woman
3 days ago
- Emirates Woman
Recharge Without Travelling: Dubai's best stretching studios for a mind and body reset
In a city as fast-paced as Dubai, the idea of a long weekend often comes with the temptation to escape—book a flight, pack a bag, and leave the hustle behind. But what if the ultimate relaxation destination isn't a far-off retreat, but right here in the heart of the city? Instead of dealing with airport chaos or long drives, why not give your body and mind the reset they deserve at one of Dubai's top stretching studios? These havens of flexibility, mobility, and deep relaxation offer a science-backed way to unwind tight muscles, ease stress, and leave you feeling rejuvenated—no passport required. Whether you're an athlete recovering from intense workouts, an office worker battling desk-induced stiffness, or simply someone craving mindful movement, these studios provide the perfect sanctuary to slow down, stretch out, and step into the long weekend feeling lighter, looser, and more balanced. Pramas Premium Wellness Studio Located in Nad Al Sheba, this all-in-one wellness studio offers a variety of wellness treatments like Pravilo, gravity based sessions, yoga, sound and breath, ice bath treatments with a focus on resetting your nervous system for a complete system reset. For more information, visit Pravilo Dubai This newly-opened Dubai studio located in Al Qouz introduces a unique holistic approach through the ancient practice of Pravilo, offering deep myofascial release, neuromuscular integration, and posture realignment, promoting a 360 degree holistic well-being. Through ancient Slavic stretching, the sessions offered boost flexibility, mental clarity, and posture alignment – giving you a new sense of 'self'. For more information, visit TOPSTRETCHING Located across the Palm, Downtown, JBR and Sky View in Dubai, this all female stretching studio offers a variety of classes like aerial stretching, pilates, yoga, split school, TRX and more – perfect for anyone just getting started on their wellness journey and want to pick from this variety of options that offer a relaxing introduction to the world of wellness. For more information, visit With dedicated sections for him and her, focuses on assisted stretching, offering both one-on-one classes and group sessions. The studio also offers specialized stretch massages designed to relieve muscle tension targeting flexibility and movement improvements. You can visit their Downtown or Dubai Marina studios to experience this one-of-a-king stretching experience. For more information, visit Atria Studios Atria Studios is the perfect choice for someone with an interest in 'art'ful relaxing. Offering pole focused sessions like ballet, pole dance, areal hoop classes, hand balancing and acrobats, strength training for pole and aerial, aerial yoga and more, the studio is the perfect space to sync your mind and body for the perfect weekend recharge. For more information, visit This long weekend, skip the stress of travel and invest in a different kind of escape—one that leaves you feeling restored, not exhausted. Dubai's stretching studios offer more than just physical relief; they're a gateway to mental clarity and a deeper connection with your body. Whether you opt for a high-energy assisted stretch or a slow, meditative session, you'll walk out standing taller, breathing easier, and carrying the kind of calm that lasts long after the weekend ends. So instead of rushing to the airport, take the road less traveled: the one that leads to your mat, your breath, and a newfound sense of ease. Your body (and your mind) will thank you. – For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram Images: Supplied & Feature Image: Pinterest
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Looking for something new to read? Here are 10 of the latest books
This week's books include a story inspired by Slavic folktales, crime fiction from an Indigenous perspective, a trip back to 1950s Australia and an epic tale of trade between China and the West. Happy reading! FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK The Unquiet Grave Dervla McTiernan HarperCollins, $34.99 Irish thriller doyenne Dervla McTiernan has relocated to Western Australia, but her imagination remains drawn to the mires and fens of her native land. Now on his fourth case of the series, her detective Cormac Reilly unearths a corpse in a bog in Galway. At first, he assumes he's stumbled across the mummified remains of a ritual human sacrifice. Prehistoric finds in the region are not uncommon, and such gruesome, millennia-old discoveries are of fascination to archaeologists. On closer inspection, Reilly assumed wrong. The mutilated remains are those of a high-school principal, Thaddeus Grey, who vanished two years before. Reilly thinks he knows what happened, but after he gets distracted by his ex, another mutilated corpse turns up halfway across the country. Suddenly, he seems to have been thrown into a high-profile serial killer investigation. If that's the case, it's only a matter of time before the murderer strikes again. McTiernan is a bestselling crime writer for good reason, and this is another brisk, moody police procedural with an effortless command of pace and suspense. Florence Knapp's debut, The Names, hinges on a sliding-doors moment. It's 1987, in the aftermath of a terrible storm. Cora, with her seven-year-old daughter, Maia, in tow, is about to enter the name of her baby son in the birth registry. Will she name him Bear, as Maia has whimsically suggested? Or Julian, the name that most appealed to her from the books of baby names she consulted while pregnant? Or will she submit to her husband's demand that the boy be given the same name as him? She has never liked Gordon much as a name, but defying her husband – a doctor whose public virtue is shadowed by cruel abuse behind closed doors – could have terrifying consequences. We follow the family through three timelines – one each for Bear, Julian and Gordon – each chapter separated by a seven-year interval. This could easily have been too much scaffolding, but Knapp uses the architecture to sketch subtle contrasts between timelines. Characters develop distinctively in each thread, shaped by Cora's choices in a way that emphasises the invidious decisions facing those living through domestic violence, as well as a love that endures even the darkest hour. When Beatrice goes blind in her 70s, her inner life turns to what can be seen without eyes, to all she has learned and felt, to a life devoted to cultivating her mind, and to memories of the family that has shaped and sustained her. Relic Light has a free-flowing, kaleidoscopic structure, and Beatrice's story emerges through brief, loosely connected musings, interleaving personal anecdotes with oddments collected from realms of literature and art. These roam from odd facts about poet John Milton (when the author of Paradise Lost lost his vision, he made two of his daughters read to him in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, apparently, while the third got off scot-free), to witticisms about Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. That novel is one way into Relic Light 's experimental form, and it's interesting to speculate on what Woolf would have made of the cultivated female voice Brennen Wysong has crafted; I think she would have recognised it as a descendent of her own fiction. Wysong's background as a short story writer is evident: although linear narrative is abandoned, the darkness is lit by flashes of insight, distilled with a sculpted quality that beguiles the mind. Crime fiction from Aboriginal perspectives has broken into the mainstream over the past decade, and Kooma-Kamilaroi author Angie Faye Martin adds to the depth of the field with Melaleuca. Our detective is Renee Taylor, an Aboriginal policewoman working in her remote home town for what she hopes will be a short and uneventful spell. Renee imagines issuing the odd speeding ticket and helping her mum out, mostly. Her life is in Meanjin/Brisbane now, and she's itching to get back to it. When a woman is found murdered at a nearby creek, Renee gets a chance to lead an investigation, and she soon finds a potential link to the disappearance at the same location of two young women decades before. An ugly suppressed history hovers under the town's sleepy surface, and Renee must confront intergenerational trauma and a dark legacy of racism to find the truth. Melaleuca is solid commercial crime fiction by any yardstick. Weaving a contemporary murder mystery into the grim reality of historical and continuing injustice faced by Aboriginal people, it's an unflinching addition to the growing corpus of outback noir. The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death Helen Marshall Titan Books, $27.99 Helen Marshall, a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Queensland, has penned a dark fantasy grand in ambition and steeped in lore, but you get the impression of an elaborate world only half-realised. Possibly influenced by Slavic folktales, it's set in a war-torn land under occupation. Sara Sidorova comes from proud stock. She has resisted the colonisers with violence and as she lays dying, an avatar of destruction offers her a glimpse of the future. There, her granddaughter Irenda bends herself to circus life – a training ground for her eventual quest to avenge her mother's death at the hands of the enemy. This is a fable-like fiction that invokes the carnivalesque, alongside hails of bullets, living gods, and references to seers and elf-children. It's a song of brutality and mystery and a fierce desire to be free, although its playfulness and sense of theatricality do come at the expense of narrative clarity and coherent exposition. I found it tough going, despite the author's obvious talents. Lee Gordon Presents … Jeff Apter Echo Publishing, $34.99 'The past,' wrote L. P. Hartley, 'is a foreign country'. Jeff Apter's biography of legendary promotor Lee Gordon is a bit like a journey back into that foreign country of 1950s Australia, when big American acts were rarely seen on stage until the brash young Yank brought them here. Gordon's list of stars included Frank Sinatra (who was a friend of his), Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and many, many more. Along the way he also discovered local talent such as Johnny O'Keefe. But for all his chutzpah, this is also a portrait of an insecure, troubled dynamo. In 1958, after something of a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, Gordon disappeared for nine months before fetching up in a sanatorium in Hawaii where was treated for a nervous breakdown. He was also a man of mystery, his years before coming to Australia (via Cuba and mixing with the Mob) uncertain, as are the circumstances of his death in a London hotel in 1963, aged poignancy here, but what comes across is the sheer frantic pace of Gordon's short life. In that time, though, he helped turn the black and white of our 1950s life into colour. You wouldn't think a Beretta could shoot down a Halifax bomber, but on the night of August 14, 1943, in southern France, that's what happened. In no time 11 people (crew and civilians) were dead. Only the pilot, Frank Griffiths, crawled away from the wreckage of the eponymous Operation Pimento. Adam Hart, his great-grandson, reconstructs that night and the escape over the Swiss border that followed, as well as Griffiths' life. The secret mission, part of Speical Operations Exectuive operations, was to drop explosives to a Resistance group in the area. Griffiths, badly injured, wound up in their care, and his escape – involving beaming maquisards, pleased to meet an RAF pilot; a madame and her brothel where he hid; and the inevitable blonde named Collette – is a gripping tale, told with poise and warmth. Hart also incorporates his own journey in the footsteps of 'Griff', meeting descendants of those who saved his life. I would not be surprised to see this pop up as a dramatised TV doco. Silk Silver Opium Michael Pembroke Hardie Grant, $37.99 The title might be three little words, but Michael Pembroke's fascinating study shows how they came to loom so large in history, from the earliest Chinese dynasties and the Romans until now. It's an epic tale about the consequences of 2000 years of trade between China and the West, also incorporating recurring themes such as the imperial Chinese strategy of trying to make trading partners dependent on them – an early form of Belt and Road. Silk, for example, mesmerised the Romans. They couldn't get enough of it and paid a fortune for it, but were also just as mesmerised by the mystery of how it was made. Same with porcelain. But it was the opium trade, a source of massive quick profit to the British East India Company especially, that had the most the devastating effect. Mass addiction followed, along with a series of Opium Wars that culminated in the Boxer Rebellion of 1899 – murderously put down by a 19th-century version of the Coalition of the Willing, leaving a war bill that 'essentially bankrupted China'. Something the Chinese still haven't forgotten. An erudite, timely, entertaining rendition of a complex subject. Uptown Girl Christie Brinkley Harper Influence, $36.99 Although it's impossible to read this without the Billy Joel song in the background, there was nothing upbeat in Brinkley's childhood in suburban California, where her biological father regularly whipped her with his belt. She writes about his violence and thuggery – when she developed a strong sense of deliverance through fantasy – with admirable restraint. But life picked up with her mother's second marriage to a Hollywood scriptwriter who encouraged her to write the script of her own life. Which, in many ways, she did. Fast-forward to Paris, 1974, where she'd gone to study art, but accidentally became one of the most famous models of her time after a photographer saw her in a post office. At 19, she was 'discovered', and quite suddenly, fantasy became reality. Inevitably, much of her story is about the fame that followed, along with love, four marriages, and what she calls the 'magic' of being alive – not to mention surviving a helicopter crash. High-flying life, down to earth memoir. The Stress Recovery Effect Dr Nick Hall and Dr Dick Tibbits (with Todd A. Hillard) Signs Publishing, $32.95 According to the American Institute of Stress, 83 per cent of Americans suffer work-related stress. This self-help guide offers practical ways of turning it into a positive. The authors met when both were engaged in a scheme (partly funded by Disney) that aimed to turn a Florida hospital into an anxiety-reduced zone by taking a wholistic approach that included installing a surfboard in an imaging machine. But their plans were drastically affected by the Pulse nightclub shootings in 2016, with some survivors, who were already enrolled in the stress recovery program, telling Hall and Tibbits how they applied their strategies to help them recover. Strategies included controlled breathing, acting out smiles instead of frowns, and buying a rocking chair to rock themselves into a state of calm. Quoting Walt Disney (think, dream, believe, dare), the whole thing comes across as a transcribed motivational talk.
The Age
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Looking for something new to read? Here are 10 of the latest books
This week's books include a story inspired by Slavic folktales, crime fiction from an Indigenous perspective, a trip back to 1950s Australia and an epic tale of trade between China and the West. Happy reading! FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK The Unquiet Grave Dervla McTiernan HarperCollins, $34.99 Irish thriller doyenne Dervla McTiernan has relocated to Western Australia, but her imagination remains drawn to the mires and fens of her native land. Now on his fourth case of the series, her detective Cormac Reilly unearths a corpse in a bog in Galway. At first, he assumes he's stumbled across the mummified remains of a ritual human sacrifice. Prehistoric finds in the region are not uncommon, and such gruesome, millennia-old discoveries are of fascination to archaeologists. On closer inspection, Reilly assumed wrong. The mutilated remains are those of a high-school principal, Thaddeus Grey, who vanished two years before. Reilly thinks he knows what happened, but after he gets distracted by his ex, another mutilated corpse turns up halfway across the country. Suddenly, he seems to have been thrown into a high-profile serial killer investigation. If that's the case, it's only a matter of time before the murderer strikes again. McTiernan is a bestselling crime writer for good reason, and this is another brisk, moody police procedural with an effortless command of pace and suspense. Florence Knapp's debut, The Names, hinges on a sliding-doors moment. It's 1987, in the aftermath of a terrible storm. Cora, with her seven-year-old daughter, Maia, in tow, is about to enter the name of her baby son in the birth registry. Will she name him Bear, as Maia has whimsically suggested? Or Julian, the name that most appealed to her from the books of baby names she consulted while pregnant? Or will she submit to her husband's demand that the boy be given the same name as him? She has never liked Gordon much as a name, but defying her husband – a doctor whose public virtue is shadowed by cruel abuse behind closed doors – could have terrifying consequences. We follow the family through three timelines – one each for Bear, Julian and Gordon – each chapter separated by a seven-year interval. This could easily have been too much scaffolding, but Knapp uses the architecture to sketch subtle contrasts between timelines. Characters develop distinctively in each thread, shaped by Cora's choices in a way that emphasises the invidious decisions facing those living through domestic violence, as well as a love that endures even the darkest hour. When Beatrice goes blind in her 70s, her inner life turns to what can be seen without eyes, to all she has learned and felt, to a life devoted to cultivating her mind, and to memories of the family that has shaped and sustained her. Relic Light has a free-flowing, kaleidoscopic structure, and Beatrice's story emerges through brief, loosely connected musings, interleaving personal anecdotes with oddments collected from realms of literature and art. These roam from odd facts about poet John Milton (when the author of Paradise Lost lost his vision, he made two of his daughters read to him in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, apparently, while the third got off scot-free), to witticisms about Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. That novel is one way into Relic Light 's experimental form, and it's interesting to speculate on what Woolf would have made of the cultivated female voice Brennen Wysong has crafted; I think she would have recognised it as a descendent of her own fiction. Wysong's background as a short story writer is evident: although linear narrative is abandoned, the darkness is lit by flashes of insight, distilled with a sculpted quality that beguiles the mind. Crime fiction from Aboriginal perspectives has broken into the mainstream over the past decade, and Kooma-Kamilaroi author Angie Faye Martin adds to the depth of the field with Melaleuca. Our detective is Renee Taylor, an Aboriginal policewoman working in her remote home town for what she hopes will be a short and uneventful spell. Renee imagines issuing the odd speeding ticket and helping her mum out, mostly. Her life is in Meanjin/Brisbane now, and she's itching to get back to it. When a woman is found murdered at a nearby creek, Renee gets a chance to lead an investigation, and she soon finds a potential link to the disappearance at the same location of two young women decades before. An ugly suppressed history hovers under the town's sleepy surface, and Renee must confront intergenerational trauma and a dark legacy of racism to find the truth. Melaleuca is solid commercial crime fiction by any yardstick. Weaving a contemporary murder mystery into the grim reality of historical and continuing injustice faced by Aboriginal people, it's an unflinching addition to the growing corpus of outback noir. The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death Helen Marshall Titan Books, $27.99 Helen Marshall, a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Queensland, has penned a dark fantasy grand in ambition and steeped in lore, but you get the impression of an elaborate world only half-realised. Possibly influenced by Slavic folktales, it's set in a war-torn land under occupation. Sara Sidorova comes from proud stock. She has resisted the colonisers with violence and as she lays dying, an avatar of destruction offers her a glimpse of the future. There, her granddaughter Irenda bends herself to circus life – a training ground for her eventual quest to avenge her mother's death at the hands of the enemy. This is a fable-like fiction that invokes the carnivalesque, alongside hails of bullets, living gods, and references to seers and elf-children. It's a song of brutality and mystery and a fierce desire to be free, although its playfulness and sense of theatricality do come at the expense of narrative clarity and coherent exposition. I found it tough going, despite the author's obvious talents. Lee Gordon Presents … Jeff Apter Echo Publishing, $34.99 'The past,' wrote L. P. Hartley, 'is a foreign country'. Jeff Apter's biography of legendary promotor Lee Gordon is a bit like a journey back into that foreign country of 1950s Australia, when big American acts were rarely seen on stage until the brash young Yank brought them here. Gordon's list of stars included Frank Sinatra (who was a friend of his), Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and many, many more. Along the way he also discovered local talent such as Johnny O'Keefe. But for all his chutzpah, this is also a portrait of an insecure, troubled dynamo. In 1958, after something of a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, Gordon disappeared for nine months before fetching up in a sanatorium in Hawaii where was treated for a nervous breakdown. He was also a man of mystery, his years before coming to Australia (via Cuba and mixing with the Mob) uncertain, as are the circumstances of his death in a London hotel in 1963, aged poignancy here, but what comes across is the sheer frantic pace of Gordon's short life. In that time, though, he helped turn the black and white of our 1950s life into colour. You wouldn't think a Beretta could shoot down a Halifax bomber, but on the night of August 14, 1943, in southern France, that's what happened. In no time 11 people (crew and civilians) were dead. Only the pilot, Frank Griffiths, crawled away from the wreckage of the eponymous Operation Pimento. Adam Hart, his great-grandson, reconstructs that night and the escape over the Swiss border that followed, as well as Griffiths' life. The secret mission, part of Speical Operations Exectuive operations, was to drop explosives to a Resistance group in the area. Griffiths, badly injured, wound up in their care, and his escape – involving beaming maquisards, pleased to meet an RAF pilot; a madame and her brothel where he hid; and the inevitable blonde named Collette – is a gripping tale, told with poise and warmth. Hart also incorporates his own journey in the footsteps of 'Griff', meeting descendants of those who saved his life. I would not be surprised to see this pop up as a dramatised TV doco. Silk Silver Opium Michael Pembroke Hardie Grant, $37.99 The title might be three little words, but Michael Pembroke's fascinating study shows how they came to loom so large in history, from the earliest Chinese dynasties and the Romans until now. It's an epic tale about the consequences of 2000 years of trade between China and the West, also incorporating recurring themes such as the imperial Chinese strategy of trying to make trading partners dependent on them – an early form of Belt and Road. Silk, for example, mesmerised the Romans. They couldn't get enough of it and paid a fortune for it, but were also just as mesmerised by the mystery of how it was made. Same with porcelain. But it was the opium trade, a source of massive quick profit to the British East India Company especially, that had the most the devastating effect. Mass addiction followed, along with a series of Opium Wars that culminated in the Boxer Rebellion of 1899 – murderously put down by a 19th-century version of the Coalition of the Willing, leaving a war bill that 'essentially bankrupted China'. Something the Chinese still haven't forgotten. An erudite, timely, entertaining rendition of a complex subject. Uptown Girl Christie Brinkley Harper Influence, $36.99 Although it's impossible to read this without the Billy Joel song in the background, there was nothing upbeat in Brinkley's childhood in suburban California, where her biological father regularly whipped her with his belt. She writes about his violence and thuggery – when she developed a strong sense of deliverance through fantasy – with admirable restraint. But life picked up with her mother's second marriage to a Hollywood scriptwriter who encouraged her to write the script of her own life. Which, in many ways, she did. Fast-forward to Paris, 1974, where she'd gone to study art, but accidentally became one of the most famous models of her time after a photographer saw her in a post office. At 19, she was 'discovered', and quite suddenly, fantasy became reality. Inevitably, much of her story is about the fame that followed, along with love, four marriages, and what she calls the 'magic' of being alive – not to mention surviving a helicopter crash. High-flying life, down to earth memoir. The Stress Recovery Effect Dr Nick Hall and Dr Dick Tibbits (with Todd A. Hillard) Signs Publishing, $32.95 According to the American Institute of Stress, 83 per cent of Americans suffer work-related stress. This self-help guide offers practical ways of turning it into a positive. The authors met when both were engaged in a scheme (partly funded by Disney) that aimed to turn a Florida hospital into an anxiety-reduced zone by taking a wholistic approach that included installing a surfboard in an imaging machine. But their plans were drastically affected by the Pulse nightclub shootings in 2016, with some survivors, who were already enrolled in the stress recovery program, telling Hall and Tibbits how they applied their strategies to help them recover. Strategies included controlled breathing, acting out smiles instead of frowns, and buying a rocking chair to rock themselves into a state of calm. Quoting Walt Disney (think, dream, believe, dare), the whole thing comes across as a transcribed motivational talk.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Bowls of comfort: seven soothing soup recipes to get you through winter
When the throw blanket isn't cutting it, soup feels like the best way to warm up from the inside out. It's nourishing, versatile and you can make use of the season's best veggies, with leftovers for easy office lunches. Here are seven recipes for simple soups, ranging from a 15-minute tom yum to a Slavic recipe that transforms sad root vegetables. Swap your knives and forks for spoons and get slurping. (Pictured above) When you're facing a dinner-time emergency, Lara Lee's sweet, sour and spicy soup is a quick and delicious solution. Store-bought tom yum paste is the key ingredient, and if you don't have prawns you can sub them out for your preferred protein or veg. 'I've used it to rescue meals for the best part of my adult life,' Lee says. It's a classic for a reason. To nail the ultimate pumpkin soup, we're taking notes from Felicity Cloake, who recommends using stock instead of water. 'I prefer chicken to vegetable stock [as] it tends to blend more easily with other ingredients: pumpkin is easily overwhelmed by more strident vegetables,' she says. She keeps it simple with sauteed red onions and carrots to enhance the pumpkin's sweetness. You'll need at least an hour to roast the beetroot and garlic for this vibrant, fragrant soup but the results will be worth it. The sweetness from the beetroot is complemented by the tartness of the saffron-infused yoghurt that is dolloped on top. Ottolenghi finishes his with a sprinkle of almonds. It's a dish he says reminds him of the flavours of home. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Colder weather not only brings sniffly noses but also a lack of energy and motivation. Both are symptoms of what Hetty Lui McKinnon has called 'the mid-season slump'. Let lashings of ginger, garlic and bok choy simmer away to create the perfect soup for when you are in need of a pick-me-up. 'This is a dish is designed to restore our sense of wellbeing,' McKinnon says. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion Unassuming at first, but packing a punch, the humble kidney bean is the base of this hearty soup. Don't let the mention of dumplings scare you as they come together quickly with a simple combination of flour, salt and thyme. Once the soup has thickened, top with extra crispy bacon for a surge of 'salty deliciousness', as Jack Monroe puts it. There is nothing more disheartening than seeing wilted vegetables at the bottom of your fridge's crisper drawer but they don't have to be a lost cause. Alice Zaslavsky has a tasty Slavic recipe that transforms sad root vegetables into a nourishing meal. Soften fennel, carrot, potato, turnip and cabbage together for a cost-effective option that lasts up to a week. The French restaurateur Marc Kuzma believes that making french onion soup from scratch is 'one of the easiest dishes' you can make. His one-pot wonder can be whipped up in 15 minutes from eight ingredients, including half a cup of cognac and white wine. 'Using a good quality cognac and white wine is very important,' Kuzma says.
