Margaret Cook

"In this highly controversial book, Margaret Cook undertakes a fascinating study of the patterns of behaviour of men in power throughout history. The results are alarming: the demeanour of elected rulers, tyrants and military leaders bears astonishing similarities and converges on a dangerous path towards egocentrism and iron control, spreading mayhem along the way. Lord Acton stated that power tends to corrupt, but Margaret Cook concludes that it actually causes men to revert to primitive patterns of conduct." - dustjacket.

The Demented World of Men in Power

Lords of Creation

Jenny Gregory

Lionel Frost

Martin Shanahan

Andrea Gaynor

Peter Spearritt

Ruth A. Morgan

As cities from Cape Town to La Paz face acute water shortages, citizens need to know how urban water systems evolved to understand their vulnerabilities and alternatives. This volume sheds light on the challenges of water management in Australian cities drawing on environmental, urban and economy history.

Cities in a Sunburnt Country

A Guide to Unravelling the Unique History of Your House

Every House Has a History

Scott McKinnon

Disasters in Australia and New Zealand brings together a collection of essays on the history of disasters in both countries. Leading experts provide a timely interrogation of long-held assumptions about the impacts of bushfires, floods, cyclones and earthquakes, exploring the blurred line between nature and culture, asking what are the anthropogenic causes of ‘natural’ disasters? How have disasters been remembered or forgotten? And how have societies over generations responded to or understood disaster? As climate change escalates disaster risk in Australia, New Zealand and around the world, these questions have assumed greater urgency. This unique collection poses a challenge to learn from past experiences and to implement behavioural and policy change. Rich in oral history and archival research, Disasters in Australia and New Zealand offers practical and illuminating insights that will appeal to historians and disaster scholars across multiple disciplines.

Historical Approaches to Understanding Catastrophe

Disasters in Australia and New Zealand

When floods devastated South East Queensland in 2011, who was to blame? Despite the inherent risk of living on a floodplain, most residents had pinned their hopes on Wivenhoe Dam to protect them, and when it failed to do so, dam operators were blamed for the scale of the catastrophic events that followed. A River with a City Problem is a compelling history of floods in the Brisbane River catchment, especially those in 1893, 1974 and 2011. Extensively researched, it highlights the force of nature, the vagaries of politics and the power of community. With many river cities facing urban development challenges, Cook makes a convincing argument for what must change to prevent further tragedy.

A History of Brisbane Floods

A River with a City Problem

Uncovers fascinating and sometimes shocking truths about the nature of power, sexuality and government. The author - wife of former Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, who left her publicly for his secretary - scrutinizes the behaviour of a wide range of public personalities.

Margaret Cook

Books

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