Cirrus@Austlit

'It was a hit almost before the public had read a word, remembers Brian Stonier. One evening in early 1966, Stonier, a ­founder of the new paperback imprint Sun Books, had the task of introducing ­historian Geoffrey Blainey to an audience in the library at Geelong College. He mentioned Blainey’s seven previous works and publicised his next: “We’re hoping later this year to publish a new book, which we’re thinking of calling The Tyranny of Distance.” The 60 schoolchildren burst into applause, spontaneously and portentously — the book approaches its half-century as perhaps Australian history’s biggest bestseller, having never been out of print, with about 180,000 copies sold. ...'