Seumas Spark

Seumas Spark is a historian employed at Monash University. He and two colleagues are working on a history of the Dunera and Queen Mary internees. His main research interests are the social history of World War II and the history of Papua New Guinea.

Seumas Spark reviews 'Anzac Day Then and Now' edited by Tom Frame

June–July 2016, no. 382 • 23 May 2016

I hazard a guess that more books are published on Anzac – the day, the legend, the myth – than on any other subject in Australian history. The least of these contributions, which often harness the nebulous concept of the 'Anzac spirit' to tell whatever story the author is interested in, add little or nothing to our understanding of the place and role of Anzac in Australian society past and pre ... (read more)

Seumas Spark reviews 'A Little America in Western Australia' by Anthony J. Barker and Michael L. Ondaatje

March 2016, no. 379 • 25 February 2016

Visiting Australia in November 2011, President Obama announced plans for the deployment of United States marines to a Darwin base. The decision to establish a permanent American military presence in northern Australia, taken with the support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Australian government, was part of the 'pivot' to Asia in US defence policy. The idea for this book emerged from the p ... (read more)