ABOUT THE EVENT:

The Soul is much more than a mesmerizing narrative and uniquely accessible way of explaining the human story. It transforms our understanding of how history works. It persuasively demonstrates that the beliefs of the soul/mind are the engines of human history.

On Thursday 22nd August at The Royal Oak, Balmain, join Paul Ham in conversation with Andrew Fowler.

Copies of The Soul will be available for purchase at the venue through Roaring Stories, with Ham signing copies after the discussion.

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ABOUT THE VENUE

Attendees are asked to arrive at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Seating is unallocated – another reason to arrive early to secure an optimal spot. Why not make a full evening of it, too, by ordering a meal at the Royal Oak before or after the event? One of Balmain's oldest and most loved pubs, it serves a delicious range of food and beverages.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

The Soul is a history of the human mind, from the earliest expression of self-consciousness to its unshakeable belief in the great religions and political systems.

Everyone thinks they have one, but nobody knows what it is. For thousands of years the soul was an 'organ', an entity, something that was part of all of us, that survived the death of the body and ventured to the underworld, or to heaven or hell. The soul could be saved, condemned, tortured, bought. And then, mysteriously, the 'soul' disappeared.

The Enlightenment called it the 'Mind'. And today, neuroscientists demonstrate that the mind is the creation of the brain. The 'religious soul' lives on, in the minds of the faithful, while the secular 'soul' means whatever you want it to mean.

In The Soul- A History of the Human Mind critically acclaimed historian Paul Ham embarks on a journey that has never been attempted- to restore the idea of the soul to the human story and to show how belief in, and beliefs arising from, the soul/mind are the engines of human history.

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ABOUT PAUL HAM

Paul Ham is the author of 12 books, including Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth (2016), 1914: The Year the World Ended (2013), Hiroshima Nagasaki (2011), Vietnam: The Australian War (2007) and Kokoda (2004). Passchendaele won the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction. Hiroshima Nagasaki was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award for History and is being made into a 6-part TV series by an American-British-Australian production team. Vietnam won the New South Wales Premier’s Prize for Australian History and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award (2008). Kokoda was shortlisted for the Walkley Award for Non-Fiction and the New South Wales Premier’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
Sandakan: The Untold Story of the Sandakan Death Marches, was published in 2012 and was also shortlisted for the 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for History.
A former Sunday Times correspondent, with a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, Paul lives in Paris and devotes his time to writing history and (when possible) to teaching Narrative History at Sciences Po, France's preeminent tertiary school for the humanities.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Andrew Fowler is an award-winning investigative journalist and a former reporter for the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent and Four Corners programs. Fowler began his journalism career in the early 1970s, covering the IRA bombing campaign for the London Evening News. He has been the chief of staff and acting foreign editor of The Australian newspaper. He wrote The Most Dangerous Man in the World, the story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks in 2011, which was updated in 2012 and 2020. Fowler first interviewed Assange for Foreign Correspondent in 2010, for which the program won the New York Festival Gold Medal. His two other books are The War on Journalism (Random House, 2015) and Shooting the Messenger: Criminalising Journalism (Routledge, 2017). Fowler is a winner of the United Nations Peace Prize, has lectured on journalism at universities in Australia and the UK, and has contributed to various academic papers.

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TERMS & CONDITIONS

Refunds

Please note that tickets are non-refundable unless the event is cancelled or postponed due to extenuating circumstances. Refunds are not issued within 48 hours notice of event date. Humanitix fee is nonrefundable.

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This event is presented by Roaring Stories Bookshop Balmain and Penguin Random House

With thanks to our venue partner The Royal Oak.

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