Walter Moxon and His Thoughts About Language and the Brain

Walter Moxon wrote a well-timed paper in 1866 on aphemia with accompanying right sided hemiplegia. Like many other investigators of this apparent lopsidedness of the articulatory system for human speech, Moxon had to reconcile left hemisphere specialization for this function with the overriding law of symmetry, which for a large sector of the scientific community was a sine qua non of the anatomy and function of high level animal cognition. His reasoning was essentially that since the right dominant hand (and hence the left hemisphere) in some sense led overall bilateral limb movement patterns, that the right side of the tongue would lead whole tongue movement for articulation, the left side following in some mechanical sense. Thus, Moxon could link left hemisphere dominance for handedness as well as for speech. His theory was that “attention” was focused on the left hemisphere during limb movement development, under his assumption that the articulators were limbs as well as the arms and hands. The present paper will examine the professional life of Moxon and his 1866 paper, as well as the scant commentary that it has elicited in the literature on the history of left hemisphere dominance for the human articulatory function.     

From Utah Beach toward reconstruction: revival in the Manche département of Lower Normandy after June 1944

As well as joyous liberation, the aftermath of the American landing on Utah Beach in 1944 brought death and destruction to localities throughout the Manche, the westernmost département of Normandy. This article, which forms part of a larger project on post-war revival and reconstruction, examines how eye witnesses recorded these horrific events and then explores the complex ‘emergency phase’ that involved local civilian labour, migrants from elsewhere in France and prisoners of war in erecting temporary accommodation, and removing mines and other explosives. Parallel with these manual tasks came claims for compensation and preparation of plans for rationalizing and rebuilding war-torn towns, villages and farmsteads. Shortages of building materials, appropriate labour and sufficient funds prolonged the process. Now, the scars of destruction have healed, the emergency phase is largely forgotten, and the legacy of post-war reconstruction in the landscape of Normandy is simply taken for granted by most residents and tourists.     

Australian defence policy and the possibility of war

The Defence White Paper of December 2000 declares that the main task of the ADF is to maintain the capability to defend Australian territory from any credible attack without relying on the combat forces of any other country. Australia is unusual among contemporary Western states in affirming such a policy. Most other states are reordering their priorities to put less emphasis on conventional conflict and more on tasks such as peacekeeping and border protection, while assuming that in the event of major conventional conflicts they are likely to be involved as subsidiary members of a coalition led in most cases by the United States. Should Australia follow this trend? The article reviews this question in the light of a number of scenarios for the use of Australia's armed forces in the period ahead, and concludes that the arguments for change are not persuasive.     

Educating the guardians: The politics of the Australian defence force academy

In 1978–80 there was a fierce debate in public and in private over the proposal to create a new university for the academic education of officer cadets from the three services. This debate was one of the most intense and widespread in the defence area since the Vietnam War.

The pressure for a single tri‐service military academy goes back at least to the early 1960s. It reflects a broader movement in the defence field towards centralization of functions and reduction of the influence of the three separate services. Significantly, the tri‐service proposal was accepted by a Labor government in 1974 and by a Liberal‐CP government in 1976.

Opposition to the proposal came principally from the three services, the universities and parliamentarians from all parties. Hearings by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works provided a forum for criticism which was widely reported in the media.

In the event the Public Works Committee recommended against proceeding with the project but was overridden by the government The episode illustrates significant aspects of civil‐military relations and the workings of the political process.     

Book reviews

Desmond Ball (ed.). Australia and the World: Prologue and Prospects. Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1990. xxxvi + 471 pp. A$20.00 (paper).

Ralph Pettman. International Politics: Balance of Power, Balance of Productivity, Balance of Ideologies. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1991. x + 252 pp. A$17.99 (paper).

Roger E. Kanet and Edward A. Kolodziej (eds.). The Cold War as Cooperation: Superpower Cooperation in Regional Conflict Management. London: Macmillan, 1991. xv + 439 pp. A$126.00 (hardcover).

Richard J. Krickus. The Superpowers in Crisis: Implications of Domestic Discord. Washington and Sydney: Pergamon‐Brassey's, 1987. xiii + 236 pp. £32.00 (hardcover), £14.95 (paper).

Khosrow Fatemi (ed.). Selected Readings in International Trade. New York and London: Taylor and Francis, 1991. vi + 179 pp. £21.00.

Richard D. Robinson (ed.). The International Communication of Technology: A Book of Readings. New York, Taylor & Francis, 1991. viii + 227 pp. £35.

Allan Webster and John Dunning (eds.). Structural Change in the World Economy. London: Routledge, 1990. xiii + 244 pp. A$105.00 (hardcover).

Graeme Cheeseman and St John Kettle (eds.). The New Australian Militarism: Undermining Our Future Stability. Sydney: Pluto Press, 1990. 231 pp. $14.95 (paper).

Christine Jennett and Randal G. Stewart (eds.). Hawke and Australian Public Policy. Melbourne, Macmillan, 1990. x + 422 pp. A$29.95 (paper).

Hugh V. Emy and Owen E. Hughes. Australian Politics: Realities in Conflict, 2nd edition. South Melbourne, Macmillan, 1991. ix + 577 pp. $34.95 (paper), $69.95 (hardcover).

Rosemary Whip and Colin A. Hughes (eds.). Political Crossroads: The 1989 Queensland Election. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1991. xv + 280 pp. $29.95 (paper).

Alan Burnett with Thomas‐Durell Young and Christine Wilson (eds.). The ANZUS Documents. Canberra Studies in World Affairs no. 28. Canberra: Australian National University, Department of International Relations, 1991. 315 pp. A$20.00 (paper).

Frank Donini. Anzus in Revision. Alabama: Air University Press, Maxwell Airforce Base, 1991. xvi + 203 pp. n.p.g.

Patrick Brogan. Eastern Europe, 1939–1989: The Fifty Year War. London: Bloomsbury, 1990. 281 pp. A$24.95 (paper).

Robert Miller. Soviet Foreign Policy Today: Gorbachev and the New Political Thinking. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1991. 220 pp. A$17.95 (paper).

Paul Craig Roberts. Alienation and the Soviet Economy. The Collapse of the Socialist Era. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1990. xxvi + 123 pp. Second Edition. US$14.95 (paper) US$29.95 (hardcover).

Olga A. Narkiewicz. The End of the Bolshevik Dream. Western European Communist Parties in the Late Twentieth Century. London, Routledge, 1990. vi + 196 pp. A$89.95 (hard cover).

John Girling (ed.). Human Rights in the Asia‐Pacific Region. Canberra Studies in World Affairs no. 29. Canberra: Department of International Relations, Australian National University, 1991. vi + 111 pp. A$15.00 (paper).

Lea Jellinek. The Wheel of Fortune: The Histoty of a Poor Community in Jakarta. Sydney: Allen & Unwin ASAA Southeast Asia Publications Series, xxviii + 214 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Anton Lucas. One Soul One Struggle. Region and Revolution in Indonesia. Sydney. Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with Allen and Unwin, 1991. xxvi + 301 pp. including maps and plates. A$24.95 (paper).

Robert Cribb. Gangsters and Revolutionaries: The Jakarta People's Militia and the Indonesian Revolution 1945–1949. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, Asian Studies Association of Australia, Southeast Asian Publications Series, no. 20, 1991. xii + 222 pp. Maps, photographs, index, bibliography. A$24.95 (paper).

Richard Tanter and Kenneth Young (eds.). The Politics of Middle Class Indonesia. Clayton: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1990. ii + 187 pp. No price given (paper).

Andrew MacIntyre. Business and Politics in Indonesia. Southeast Asia Publications Series No. 21. North Sydney: Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with Allen and Unwin, 1991. xv + 282 pp., including index. $24.95 (paper).

Humphrey McQueen. Japan to the Rescue. William Heinemann Australia, 1991. 345 pp., index, bibliography. A$24.95 (paper).

Masaya Shiraishi. Japanese Relations with Vietnam: 1951–1987. Ithaca: Southeast Asian Program, Cornell University, 1990. ix + 164 pp. US$12.00

Henry P. Frei. Japan's Southward Advance and Australia. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1991. xvii + 303 pp. A$34.95 (hardcover).

Malama Meleisea. Making of Modem Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration in the Modem History of Western Samoa. Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1987. xi + 280 pp. US$12.00 (paper).

Malama Meleisea (ed.). Lagaga. A Short History of Modem Samoa. Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1987. xx + 225 pp. US$12.00 (paper).

Dora Alves (ed.). Cooperative Security in the Pacific Basin: The 1988 Pacific Symposium. Washington: National Defense University Press, 1990. 346 pp. n.p.g.

Dora Alves (ed.). Change, Interdependence and Security in the Pacific Basin: The 1990 Pacific Symposium. Washington: National Defense University Press, 1991. 395 pp. n.p.g.

Jonathan Unger (ed.). The Pro‐Democracy Protests in China: Reports from the Provinces. Armonk, NY, M.E. Sharpe, 1991. xii + 239 pp., map, index. US$15.95 (paper), US$35.00 (hardcover).

Ruth Cherrington. China's Students: The Struggle for Democracy. London: Routledge, 1991. xi + 239 pp. A$89.95 (hardcover).