Book reviews

D. W. Rawson: Labor in Vain? A survey of the Australian Labor Party, Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd., Croydon, Victoria, 1966, pp. 128, cased $2.75, paperback $1.95.

Ralph Gibson: My Years in the Communist Party, International Bookshop, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 268, $1.75.

Keith McEwan: Once a Jolly Comrade, Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, 1966, pp. 119, $3.25 and $1.95 (paperback).

John Wilkes, ed.: Australian Cities: Chaos or Planned Growth? Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1966, pp. 138, $1.95.

F. B. Smith: The Making of the Second Reform Bill, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp. 297, $6.00.

H. G. Gelber: Australia. Britain and the E.E.C.—1961 to 1963, Oxford University Press. Melbourne. 1966. pp. 296 + xii, $9.50.

Alan Stoller, ed.: New Faces: Immigration and Family Life in Australia, F. W. Cheshire for the Victorian Family Council, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 195 + x. $3.00.

Ian G. Sharp and Golin M. Tatz, eds.: Aborigines in the Economy: Employment, Wages and Training, Jacaranda Press in association with the Centre for Research into Aboriginal Affairs, Monash University, 1966, pp. 382 + xvi, $4.65.

Sir Solly Zuckerman: Scientists and War: The Impact of Science on Military and Civil Affairs, Hamish Hamilton. London. 1966. pp. 177 + xiii, $3.25.

Gerald E. Caiden: The A.C.P.T.A.—A Study of White Collar Unionism in the Commonwealth of Australia 1885–1922, Occasional Paper No. 2, Department of Political Science, Research School of Social Sciences, A.N.U., Canberra, pp. 371, n.p.

Michael Collins: The Land Boomers, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp. 247 + viii, $7.50.

Enid Campbell: Parliamentary Privilege in Australia, Melbourne University Press. Melbourne, 1966, pp. 218, $6.00.

Anthony Clunies Ross and Peter King: Australia and Nuclear Weapons: the Case for a Non‐nuclear Region in South East Asia, Sydney University Press, 1966, pp. 111, $2.

Paul W. van der Veur: Search for New Guinea's Boundaries: From Torres Strait to the Pacific, A.N.U. Press, Canberra, 1966, pp. 176 + xii, $6.30. Distributor: Jacaranda Press, Brisbane.

Paul W. van der Veur: Documents and Correspondence on New Guinea's Boun‐daries, A.N.U. Press, Canberra. pp. 210 + x, $3.40. Distributor: Jacaranda Press, Brisbane.

J. P. Sinclair: Behind the Ranges: Patrolting in New Guinea, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp. 230 + xvii, $4.75.     

Djilas on Communism

Milovan Djihs: “THE NEW CLASS.” Thames and Hudson, London, 1957, pp. 214. 21/‐ stg.     

Portraits of the Artist as Politician,the Politician as Artist: Commemorating the Disraeli Phenomenon

This article examines the reception of Benjamin Disraeli as a bestselling novelist and respectable elder statesman as reflected in obituaries and biographical sketches appearing in the wake of his death in 1881. It starts out by tracing Disraeli’s entry into the popular imagination during his lifetime before focusing on the intersections of literary and political fame in late nineteenth-century commemorations. Disraeli’s posthumous media reception reveals that his deft migration between the literary and the political fields as closely interconnected arenas of self-fashioning crucially influenced his position as one of the most eminent figures in Victorian public life. It will be shown, however, that the narrative of the duality of Disraeli’s public acclaim is complicated by the celebrifying impact of his lifelong position as a social, ethnic, and intellectual outsider who transgressed Victorian norms and categories. In its attempt to unpick the multiple layers of Disraeli’s Victorian pre-eminence from the angle of Celebrity Studies, this article illuminates the tension between processes of self-fashioning and media appropriation that informs the production and consumption of fame and celebrity in nineteenth-century Britain and beyond. It thus participates in an ongoing scholarly conversation about the cultural history of fame and celebrity, presenting Disraeli as a type of media celebrity whose public profile was fashioned from a variety of dynamically interacting and mutually sustaining manifestations of fame.     

A comparison study of children's independent mobility in England and Australia

We compared independent mobility (freedom to move around the neighbourhood – or similar – without adult accompaniment) among English and Australian schoolchildren. Parents reported mobility licences granted to their children (e.g. allowing them to cross main roads alone) and accompaniment on local trips. Children reported travel mode to school. We examined associations between mobility licences and independent school journeys, and accompaniment on local trips. Among 10–12-year-olds, English children had more licences than Australian children. Mobility licences were directly associated with independent school journeys among primary but not among secondary schoolchildren who travelled further; and inversely associated with parental accompaniment to other destinations. Influences on parental restrictions should be examined to promote children's independent mobility.     

The Modi lahar (wave) in the 2014 Indian national election: A critical realignment?

In India's 2014 general election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured an outright majority of seats, the first time any party has done so since 1984. This has led to claims that this is a ‘critical’ or ‘realigning’ election. Yet, most Indian elections are initially described as ‘critical’ elections, which suggests that this concept needs to be further refined to be analytically useful in India's electorally volatile and regionalised political context. This commentary conceptualises critical elections in India as those that enable the winning party to build lasting regional social coalitions. Such coalitions need to be consolidated in subsequent elections for a realignment to take place. A mastery of regional politics was crucial to the BJP's 2014 win, which does mark this as a potentially realigning election. Yet, questions remain about its ability to consolidate the coalitions that delivered this result.

2014年的普选中,印度人民党获得了绝对多数的议席,破了1984以来各政党的记录。这被看作一次“关键性”的、改弦易辙的选举。不过,印度的选举一开始也多被说成“关键性”的选举。所以,这个概念尚需推敲,以便能够用来分析印度变幻不定的选情以及地区化的政情。本文将印度的“关键性”选举界定为获胜党得建立长久的地区社会联盟。这个联盟需要在日后的选举中加固,才谈得上改弦易辙。把握好地区政治对于人民党2014年选举的胜利至关重要,它使得这次选举成为潜在的改弦易辙。但它是否有能力加固联盟以释放改弦易辙的效果,则还是一个问题。     

Book reviews

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE BRITISH LABOUR GOVERNMENT 1945–1951, by M. A. Fitzsimmons. University of Notre Dame Press, 1953.

DEMOGRAPHIC YEARBOOK, 1952; United Nations Statistical Office; New York, 1952.

SEARCH AFTER SUNRISE, by Vera Britain, 1951; London, Macmillan; pp. 271.

GOVERNMENTAL POLICIES CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT, INFLATION AND BALANCE OF PAYMENTS, 1951–2. United Nations publication, November, 1952; pp. viii and 135; price one U.S. dollar.

THE STATE THE ENEMY, by Sir Ernest Benn. Benn, London, 1953; pp. 175; price 12/6 (stg.).

CONGRESS. ITS CONTEMPORARY ROLE, by Earnest S. Griffith; New York University Press; New York, 1951; pp. vii and 191; 3.50 U.S. dollars.     

Academic travel from Cambridge University and the formation of centres of knowledge, 1885–1954

This paper draws attention to academic travel as a key issue in the geographies of knowledge, science and higher education. Building upon recent work in science studies and geography, it is argued that academic travel reveals the wider geography of scientific work and thus of the knowledge and networks involved. By examining academic travel from Cambridge University in the period 1885 to 1954, the study clarifies its role in the development of Cambridge as a modern research university, the emergence of global knowledge centres elsewhere and the development of an Anglo-American academic hegemony in the twentieth century. Using unpublished archival data on all recorded applications for leave of absence by Cambridge University Teaching Officers, it is further explored how the global geographies of academic travel varied among different types of work, thereby exposing distinct hierarchies of spaces of knowledge production and sites of study.     

Can argillaceous formations isolate nuclear waste? Insights from isotopic,noble gas,and geochemical profiles

There is considerable interest in the use of thick argillaceous geologic formations to contain nuclear waste. Here, we show that diffusion can be the controlling transport process in these formations and diffusional time scales for δ¹⁸O and δ²H in water, dissolved He, and Cl transport in shale‐dominated aquitards are typically over 10⁶ years, well exceeding the regulatory requirements for isolation in most countries. Our scientific understanding of diffusive solute transport processes through argillaceous formations would benefit from the application of additional isotopic tracers (e.g., using new ⁴He sampling technology), multidimensional diffusive‐dispersive modeling of groundwater flow and diffusive‐dispersive solute transport over long geologic time scales, and an improved understanding of spatial heterogeneity as well as time‐dependent changes in the subsurface conditions and properties of argillaceous formations in response to events such as glaciation. Based on our current isotopic and geochemical understanding of transport, we argue that argillaceous formations can provide favorable long‐term conditions for isolating nuclear wastes.