translation (2013) of Simone Weil’s 1940 essay On the Abolition of All Political Parties was inspired, he said, by the "toxic atmosphere" that had started to pollute Australian politics. He wrote regularly for the English-language press — The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, Quadrant, and The Monthly — and for the French-language press — L'Express, Le Point, Le Monde, Le Figaro littéraire, and Le Magazine Littéraire. He was a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, an Honorary Commander of the French Navy and member of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique. He received many awards including the Académie française's Prix Jean Walter, prix d’histoire et de sociologie, the Prix Renaudot de l'essai, the Prix Henri Gal, the Prix Femina, the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, the Prix Guizot-Calvados, the Prix Quinquernal de Literature, and the Christina Stead Prize for fiction. Bibliography Shen Fu, Six récits au fil inconstant des jours (Brussels: Maison Ferdinand Larcier, 1966) - translation from Chinese to French by Pierre Ryckmans, with a preface by Yves Hervouet Shitao, Les propos sur la peinture du moine Citrouille-amère (Brussels: Institut Belge des Hautes Études Chinoises, 1970) - translation from Chinese to French and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans Kouo Mo-jo (Guo Moruo), Autobiographie : mes années d'enfance (Paris: Gallimard, 1970, Collection "Connaissance de l'Orient") - translation from Chinese to French by Pierre Ryckmans La Vie et l’œuvre de Su Renshan, rebelle, peintre, et fou, 1814-1849? (Paris and Hong Kong: Centre de publication de l'U.E.R. Extrême-Orient-Asie du Sud-Est de l'Université de Paris, 1971. 2 volumes). Les habits neufs du président Mao: chronique de la "Révolution culturelle" (Paris: Champ libre, 1971) Ombres chinoises (Paris: 10/18, 1974) Lu Xun, La mauvaise herbe (Paris: 10/18, 1975) – translation from Chinese to French and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans Images brisées (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1976) Chinese Shadows (New York: Viking Press, 1977) The Chairman's New Clothes: Mao and the Cultural Revolution (London: Allison & Busby, 1979; New York: St Martin's Press, 1977) Human Rights in China (United Daily Newspaper, 1979) Broken Images: Essays on Chinese Culture and Politics (London: Allison & Busby, 1979; New York: St Martin's Press, 1980) La Forêt en feu: Essais sur la culture et la politique chinoises (Paris: Hermann, 1983) Yao Ming-le, Enquête sur la mort de Lin Biao. Preface by Simon Leys. (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1983) Orwell, ou l'horreur de