Bar Book Club to discuss The Uncaged Sky

14/04/2022

4 May 2022 at 5.30pm

In 2018 Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian dual citizen and lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University travelled to Iran to attend a conference in Qom. She was arrested at Tehran Airport by Iran's Revolutionary Guard on charges of espionage and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. After more than two years of interrogations and solitary confinement in one of Iran's harshest gaols - a fact which was kept secret by the Australian Government for more than a year - Dr Moore-Gilbert was released as part of a prisoner swap involving four countries. Recently, two British nationals were released from custody in Iran after the UK Government agreed to pay a GBP400m debt.

In addition to a graphic and harrowing account of arrest and imprisonment in a foreign country, Dr Moore-Gilbert's story raises questions about the adequacy of 'quiet diplomacy' in response to the Revolutionary Guard's flagrant use of 'hostage diplomacy'.

The Bar Book Club will meet on 4 May 2022 at 5.30pm in Martin Place Chambers during which it will discuss The Uncaged Sky: My 804 Days in an Iranian Prison, by Kylie Moore-Gilbert. You can read recent reviews here and here.

Please register here to attend the Bar Book Club.

Member discounts

Grab your copy of Uncaged Sky, or any other title on the Bar Book Club list, using a discounted gift card from Booktopia or Dymocks. Sign into the Bar Association website, and from the Member Dashboard, navigate to Member Advantage gift cards.

Stalin's Library

According to a recent article in the New Statesman, half of Stalin's books, complete with annotations, can still be found in Vladimir Putin's Kremlin office. Putin isn't Stalin, but recent events in Ukraine, and Putin's evident interest in Stalin have heightened interest in Stalin's Library: A Dictator and His Books, by Geoffrey Roberts. You can read a review by the Guardian here.

Some bookstores have run out of copies, so the Bar Book Club will review Stalin's Library on 15 June at 5.30pm in Martin Place Chambers.

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