Michael Pusey, The Experience of Middle Australia: The Dark Side of Economic Reform
Cambridge University Press (hardback and paperback)

Middle Australia is financially stretched, anxious about the future and angry, according to a startling new study by sociologist Michael Pusey.

Two decades of economic upheaval – including business deregulation, privatization, job restructuring and more competition – have left middle-class Australians feeling out-of-pocket compared to the rich and powerful.

Objects of their particular hatred are corporate executives who have no sense of responsibility to the community, yet who are routinely awarded eight-figure payouts – even when they fail spectacularly, as with HIH, AMP and One.Tel.

Even the Prime Minister, John Howard, admitted recently that although Australia is “one of the wealthiest societies in the world”, we are “not as egalitarian as we used to be.”

Michael Pusey (author of the best-selling Economic Rationalism in Canberra) mounts a moral and intellectual counter-argument to economic reform, based on interviews with 400 Australians from around the country who shared their experiences of work, family, and community for this book.

Andrew Sinclair, An Anatomy of Terror: A History of Terrorism
Pan Macmillan Australia. RRP: $59.95

In An Anatomy of Terror, Andrew Sinclair takes a detailed trip through the dark side of humanity from Muslim assassins and the medieval Crusades to Timothy McVeigh and Osama bin Laden. As he does, he encounters many links between seemingly disparate groups and illuminates how terrorists recruit the footsoldiers to carry out these acts of terror. Examining all facets of terror, from state-endorsed ethnic cleansing to suicide bombers, from freedom fighters to genocide, Andrew Sinclair provides a new understanding of “Warfare by extreme means”.

Tim Bowden, Spooling Through: An irreverent memoir.
Allan & Unwin. RRP: $29.95

Tim Bowden – one of Australia’s favourite broadcasters, journalists, authors and general raconteurs – became a household name through the long-running ABC-TV series Backchat. In Spooling Through Bowden reminisces humorously on his eventful life broadcasting experiences in Tasmania, London, Asia, the Vietnam War and New York – and in radio and television current affairs in Sydney when he was the first executive producer of PM and a producer with ABC-TV’s ground-breaking This Day Tonight.

Francis Crosby, Illustrated Book of Fighter Aircraft.
Pan Macmillan Australia. RRP: $22

This splendidly illustrated book provides both the general enthusiast and historian with key information about the world’s fighter aircraft. It is a must-have reference as well as a fine read for anyone interested in aircraft that have helped make history.

Lorraine Merritt, Talking the Talk.
Choice Books / Pan Macmillan Australia. RRP: $20

More often than ever before, we are called upon to speak in public – whether to make a sales pitch for our company or speak at a community gathering. Through a series of practical exercises, Lorraine Merritt – head trainer of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) Corporate Performance programme – explains how to develop the characteristics of a confident, competent public speaker. There’s so much more to successful presentation than knowing how to give a PowerPoint slide show. Talking the Talk offers practical solutions to enable even the most timid to overcome the jitters and become an accomplished public speaker.

Dr Paul Goyen, Live Well, Live Long: Prevention is Better than Cure.
Allan & Unwin. RRP: $29.95 paperback

Many of the illnesses we develop during our lives can be prevented. In Live Well, Live Long, Dr Paul Goyen identifies the preventable illnesses, both physical and mental, that are the most common causes of premature death and disability in Australia.

Providing readers with a life-long plan for their prevention, this important and accessible book offers realistic and practical advice to help us incorporate healthy-living practices into our lives.

Paul Goyen has worked as a GP for 20 years, specializing in preventative medicine. He lives in Sydney.

Gabriel Gaté, Guide to Everyday Cooking.
Allen & Unwin. RRP: $39.95 hardcover

This practical guide to preparing traditional favourites, as well as modern classics, is packed with information, hints and ideas from Gabriel Gaté’s lifetime of kitchen wisdom. Guide to Everyday Cooking tells you how to shop better, how to cook faster and add flavour to food, which equipment really is essential and, most important, how to be less stressed in the kitchen.

French-born Gabriel Gaté is one of Australia’s favourite chefs and author of 19 cookbooks, including the bestsellers Weekend on a Plate and How to Teach Kids to Cook.

High Vitality Cooking
Lorenz / Pan Macmillan Australia. RRP: $14.9

Get the energy you need for today’s hectic lifestyle. Here are ideas on how to change your diet by eating less meat. Follow the expert tips on how to retain valuable vitamins and nutrients, and learn which foods to avoid. The book gives you more than 70 recipes for every occasion to take you through the day from breakfast to supper. As well as being healthy, the dishes are delicious and tempting, like Middle Eastern Rice with Lentils or a homemade apricot and almond muesli to ensure that your energy levels stay at optimum.

Tim Marshall, Recycle Your Garden.
Allan & Unwin. RRP: $27.95

Everybody knows that composting makes good sense – ecologically, financially and philosophically. In this new title from Gardening Australia, South Australian author Tim Marshall shows how you can benefit your garden and the environment by building and maintaining a simple compost heap on your back garden.