MUP's new titles for April include an enlightening collection of Australia's best political writing, a new paperback edition of an award-winning historical adventure, and two stunning books commemorating Australia's military history in time for Anzac Day.

The Best Australian Political Writing
Edited by Tony Jones

MUP, Publication Date: April 2008    RRP: $32.95 PB
ISBN: 978-0-522-85421-3

In The Best Australian Political Writing, Lateline's Tony Jones selects the most illuminating, provocative and incisive analysis of the past year in politics. Here some of our leading commentators and writers dissect Kevin Rudd's march to the Lodge and John Howard's historic defeat; travel to Afghanistan and a drought-stricken Mallee town; weigh in on the culture wars; and investigate the bungled cases of David Hicks and Mohamed Haneef. This collection brings together the names, events and ideas that shaped a remarkable year.

The Men of the Line
Stories of the Thai-Burma Railway Survivors
By Pattie Wright

The Miegunyah Press, Publication Date: April 2008    RRP: $45.00 HB
ISBN: 978-0-522-85483-1

The extraordinary engineering feat of the Thai-Burma Railway, or the Line as it is often called, was achieved with a slave labour force—an Asian contingent and Allied prisoners-of-war, including Australian, British, Dutch and American soldiers.

Funny, brutal, touching and sad, the men's stories of survival allow you to encounter the power of the human spirit first-hand. The potent combination of Peter Long's beautiful design and the frank and revealing oral histories bring to life what living and working on The Line was like.

Voyages to the South Seas

The Miegunyah Press, Publication Date: April 2008    RRP: $26.95 PB
ISBN: 978-0-522-85542-5

Voyages to the South Seas is a swashbuckling adventure of ambition and discovery.

Through revolution and empire, war and bloodshed, France remained fascinated with Australia, sending expeditions of dedicated young men to explore the utopian Paradise of the Pacific and Australia to the frozen hell of Antarctica. Voyages to the South Seas reveals the true stories of explorers who risked, and often lost, their lives in pursuit of their passion.

Sacred Places
War Memorials in the Australian Landscape (Third Edition)
By K.S. Inglis

MUP, Publication Date: March 2008    RRP: $45.00 PB
ISBN: 978-0-522-85479-4

War memorials, large and small, stand everywhere in the Australian landscape. They embody what Australians have wanted to say about the service and death of their compatriots in overseas wars and express pride, grief, perceptions of God, empire and nation. The story of their making is composed of both harmony and conflict. Ken Inglis argues that they are the shrines of a civil religion.