Australian History
Book Details

A Historian’s Apprenticeship

Manning Clark

The story of the writing of Clark’s life’s work, his six-volume A History of Australia.

Opinion

‘there will never be another word written in Australian history that is not in some way a response to what [Manning Clark] said.’
Greg Dening, Australian Book Review

About this Title

This is the story of the writing of Manning Clark’s life work, his huge, controversial 6-volume A History of Australia. Written in the years before he died in 1991, Manning Clark shares with his readers the dilemmas, excitements, and sheet hard work of the historian who like Ezekiel in the desert of Israel puts sinew and flesh on the dry bones of the dead.

A Historian’s Apprenticeship describes Manning Clark’s dream about the history of Australia—wanting to tell the story, the years of reading, travel and reflection leading to its composition—learning to tell the story, and the laborious process of writing itself—trying to tell the story, often through three or four drafts of 200 000 words. This little book offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of Manning Clark’s enormous scholarly achievement.

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978-0-522-84631-7