In "Little America", Robert Manne provides the definitive word on John Howard's ten years in power, outlining how Australia now unthinkingly follows American foreign policy, just as in the 1930s it acquiesced to England on all international matters.

"John Howard's decision to commit Australia to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is grounded far less in rational calculation and far more in sentimental dreaming than he or his supporters understand or would be willing to admit."

In "The Tall Man", Chloe Hooper ventures into Palm Island's heart of darkness. Attending the inquest into an Aboriginal man's death in custody, she finds a community on the verge of disintegration, and wonders how the people of Palm Island will achieve justice and equality.

"This place is like a black hole in the universe into which people have fallen. Rocks may as well have rained down. There may as well have been an apocalypse."

In The Nation Reviewed, Gideon Haigh celebrates the sesquicentenary of the secret ballot, Edward Scheer investigates Australians' connection to fire, Andrew McMillan finds that Grey Nomads are looting roadhouses in the Northern Territory, and John Harms reflects on the joy of sport.

In Arts & Letters, Drusilla Modjeska reviews Carolyn Burke's biography of Lee Miller, Helen Garner applauds Bennett Miller's biopic Capote, Simon Caterson examines Ismail Kadare's Booker-winning The Successor, and Robert Forster compares new albums by Beth Orton and Cat Power.