Michael Fullilove

Michael Fullilove is a Rhodes Scholar and former prime ministerial adviser who writes widely on politics and international relations. A lawyer and historian by training, he directs the global issues program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, Australia.

I recently asked him what he was reading. His reply:

I'm in the middle of two books: Reza Aslan's excellent and very readable introduction to Islam, No God but God, and William Dalrymple's marvelous account of his travels through the ruins of Eastern Christianity, From the Holy Mountain. Both are in preparation for a trip I'm making next week to Israel and Turkey.

I also recently began the Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita's moving memoir, Romulus, My Father - soon to be a major motion picture, as they say in the trade.

Two other books sit on my bedside table waiting for their owner's attention. Both are first books by friends of mine: Sophie Gee's The Scandal of the Season, an 18th-century literary bodice-ripper; and Leigh Sales' Detainee 002, the story of the Australian prisoner at Guantanamo, David Hicks.

Fullilove's work has appeared in publications such as Slate, the Financial Times, The National Interest and Foreign Affairs, and his first book, "Men and Women of Australia!": Our Greatest Modern Speeches, was published in 2005 by Vintage.

--Marshal Zeringue