The Book Bunker

WHEN YOU evacuate, you learn what matters most, none of which you can easily pack into a suitcase. Many people lost their jobs in the 2019-20 bushfires: orchards, shops, cafés, offices and their business records burnt, sometimes tragically because they relied on structures they thought were bushfire proof, like shipping containers.

I thought my job was portable: all I needed was a brain, hands or equivalent, and a borrowed computer or even iphone. I had forgotten that I had contracts for four historical books, all based on primary sources – copies of old letters or