- Published: 1 November 2013
- ISBN: 9781742757995
- Imprint: Random House Australia
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 432
Sir Henry Parkes: The Australian Colossus
- Published: 1 November 2013
- ISBN: 9781742757995
- Imprint: Random House Australia
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 432
Great book. Great Man.
Phillip Adams, Late Night Live
A new biography by historian Stephen Dando-Collins traces Parkes's unlikely trajectory in a lucid and lively narrative that wears its extensive research lightly and introduces the reader to a Sydney town all but unrecogniseable today. Dando-Collins gives the reader solid but digestible slabs of the geography and culture Parkes found himself immersed in, and provides and evenhanded account of Parkes's achievements and failures (which were many). [an] excellent biography.
Patricia Anderson, The Australian
Stephen Dando-Collins has presented an absorbing biographical study of a unique statesman, the narrative enriched by superbly researched details of Australia’s growth and social development in the 19th Century.
Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales
As many school teachers know, the history of Australian Federation is a bit of a dry and dusty topic for students, and it takes a great deal of skill to make it palatable. Which is why I welcome this very readable biography of Henry Parkes a.k.a. 'The Father of Federation' because there are plenty of interesting titbits to liven up proceedings in the classroom. I hope schools invest in a copy of this biography. The author's style makes light work of a complex career, and it humanises the man as well. The biography is also enjoyable reading for teachers who just want a bit of extra background to liven up their lessons about Federation!
Lisa Hill, ANZ Lit Lovers
An important, long overdue warts and all biography of Australia's most formidable politician: uneducated, bankrupt and depressive, Henry Parkes nonetheless steered a fractious country to nationhood. championed womens' rights, established secular state education and set a standard for honest governance that his successors, particularly in New South Wales, have proved incapable of emulating.
Geoffrey Robertson
Thoroughly researched
Noel Shaw, The Examiner, Launceston