Reviews

Roger Manser, Failed Transitions: The Eastern European Economy and Environment since the Fall of Communism. New York: The New Press, 1993, ix + 195 pp., $22.95. UK edition, The Squandered Dividend: The Free Market and the Environment in Eastern Europe. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd, 1993.

Jacques Nagels, La tiers‐mondisation de l'ex‐URSS? Brussels: Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1993.

John Murray, The Russian Press from Brezhnev to Yeltsin: Behind the Paper Curtain. Aldershot, Hants: Edward Elgar, 1994, viii + 280 pp.

James D. White, The Russian Revolution 1917–1921. A Short History. London: Edward Arnold, 1994, viii + 312 pp., £12.99 p/b.     

The Queensland Native Police and Strategies of Recruitment on the Queensland Frontier, 1849–1901

Although historians have provided substantial insights into the structure, development and activities of the Queensland Native Mounted Police, they have rarely focused on the complex and sensitive issue of Aboriginal recruitment. A careful reading of historical records, however, identifies several methods, including coercion, intimidation, kidnapping and inducement, as well as “voluntary” enlistment. It is difficult to identify Aboriginal agency in recruitment processes as the records are entirely one-sided—the voices of the troopers themselves are absent from the archival sources. In this article, we examine the cultural and historical contexts of Aboriginal recruitment—for example, the dire social situations of Aboriginal survivors of the frontier war and the absence of future survival options for the potential recruits. We explore, through the framework of historical trauma, the impacts on vulnerable victims of violence and other devastating effects of colonisation. We conclude that the recruitment of Aboriginal troopers was far from a homogeneous or transparent process and that the concept of agency with regard to those who can be considered war victims themselves is extremely complex. Unravelling the diverse, conflicting and often controversial meanings of this particular colonial activity remains a challenge to the historical process.     

Helen Holt: A Centenarian's Reflections on a Lifetime of Public Service

Women have made great strides in the past 100 years. As the iconic cigarette commercial told us almost 50 years ago, “You've come a long way, baby!” Yet women are still underrepresented in the highest leadership ranks, including state and federal office. Before being asked to “lean in” or share valuable insights, a small group of very capable women were leaders long before those two words were seen in the same sentence. One such remarkable woman, Helen Holt, was a “servant‐leader” throughout her illustrious and inspiring career as a member of West Virginia's House of Delegates, then as secretary of state (1957–58), and later as a presidential appointee charged with developing the nation's nursing home system. Holt's work in state and federal government, her appointment by seven U.S. presidents to develop and implement the national nursing home program that is still in use today, and her leadership in civic and nonprofit organizations have made her an inspiration to countless women and men.     

Growing Without Pains? Explaining Liberal Democrat MPs' Behaviour

Recent academic studies and wider commentary on the behaviour of Liberal Democrat MPs have recognised their relatively high level of cohesiveness on whipped votes when compared to that of Labour and the Conservatives, and to the Liberal Democrats' own reputation; but while this trend continues, few studies have focused upon its causes. This article uses the MPs' voting records, personal papers, interviews and wider contextual data to chart the extent of that unity over time, and to explore its origins, including group composition, structure, patronage, relations with the extra-parliamentary party and other parties as well as national party image. It finds the key to this unity in a combination of medium and long-term features of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat group of MPs, rather than a short-term singular determinant.