1977, Kerry Packer announced he'd bought the cream of Australia's cricket crop to play in his own private competition. This is the story of those men, known as the Establishment Boys.

Set during Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket revolution, this book tells the story of the Australian Test cricketers plucked from the backwaters of the domestic game to take on full-strength international sides. Some became cricketing greats. Others were lost in the footnotes of history. But all have important stories to share. From 1977/78 to the reconciliation, two Australian sides competed in parallel universes: World Series Cricket's glamorous rock star realm and the attritional reality of Test cricket fought by predominantly younger, poorly paid men honouring the baggy green. Friendships were broken, and new bonds formed, as the public first sided with the traditional game before backing World Series Cricket in greater numbers. Kerry Packer eventually won the cricketing war. However, Test cricket survived because of those who carried the Australian banner for the game. These players became known as the 'Establishment Boys' and until now they have barely been acknowledged.

A major bestseller in the UK and a six-time Best Book of 2014, The Establishment is a sweeping look at how power and money have made British politics hugely undemocratic. Power, money, and undemocratic politics—wait, does that sound familiar? Who wields power in politics? It is a question that's asked all too often—and never really answered. But that's exactly what Owen Jones has done in The Establishment, which has already taken Great Britain by storm. To expose the shadowy and unaccountable network of people who dominate British political life—the people who influence major decisions and reap huge profits in the process—Owen Jones sets out on a journey into the very heart of the elite. From the lobbies of the Houses of Parliament to Rupert Murdoch's newsrooms to the conference rooms of some of the world's biggest banks, Jones systematically explores the revolving doors that link the worlds of politics, media, and finance—and shows how this corrupt and incestuous world came to be. Funny, sharp, and rich with brilliant descriptions of the men and women at the heart of the elite, The Establishment is a joy to read, but its diagnosis is deadly serious: the establishment is the biggest threat to democracy today. And it's time, writes Jones, for it to be challenged.

An updated and revised edition of the controversial classic—now more relevant than ever—argues that boys are the ones languishing socially and academically, resulting in staggering social and economic costs. Girls and women were once second-class citizens in the nation’s schools. Americans responded with concerted efforts to give girls and women the attention and assistance that was long overdue. Now, after two major waves of feminism and decades of policy reform, women have made massive strides in education. Today they outperform men in nearly every measure of social, academic, and vocational well-being. Christina Hoff Sommers contends that it’s time to take a hard look at present-day realities and recognize that boys need help. Called “provocative and controversial...impassioned and articulate” (The Christian Science Monitor), this edition of The War Against Boys offers a new preface and six radically revised chapters, plus updates on the current status of boys throughout the book. Sommers argues that the problem of male underachievement is persistent and worsening. Among the new topics Sommers tackles: how the war against boys is harming our economic future, and how boy-averse trends such as the decline of recess and zero-tolerance disciplinary policies have turned our schools into hostile environments for boys. As our schools become more feelings-centered, risk-averse, competition-free, and sedentary, they move further and further from the characteristic needs of boys. She offers realistic, achievable solutions to these problems that include boy-friendly pedagogy, character and vocational education, and the choice of single-sex classrooms. The War Against Boys is an incisive, rigorous, and heartfelt argument in favor of recognizing and confronting a new reality: boys are languishing in education and the price of continued neglect is economically and socially prohibitive.

Selected as one of the Top 5 Educational Books by Literacy News The signs and statistics are undeniable: boys are falling behind in school. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the biggest culprits are not video games, pop culture, or female-dominated schools biased toward girls. The real problem is that boys have been thrust into a bewildering new school environment that demands high-level reading and writing skills long before they are capable of handling them. Lacking the ability to compete, boys fall farther and farther behind. Eventually, the problem gets pushed into college, where close to 60% of the graduates are women. In a time when even cops, construction foremen, and machine operators need post-high school degrees, that's a problem. Why Boys Fail takes a hard look at how this ominous reality came to be, how it has worsened in recent years, and why attempts to resolve it often devolve into finger-pointing and polarizing politics. But the book also shares some good news. Amidst the alarming proof of failure among boys-around the world-there are also inspiring case studies of schools where something is going right. Each has come up with realistic ways to make sure that every student-male and female-has the tools to succeed in school and later in life. Educators and parents alike will take heart in these promising developments, and heed the book's call to action-not only to demand solutions but also to help create them for their own students and children.