Nicholas Brown Nicholas Brown i(A94847 works by) (a.k.a. N. P. Brown)
Born: Established: 1961 ;
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 Donald Horne : A Life in the Lucky Country. By Ryan Cropp. La Trobe University Press Nicholas Brown , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Politics and History , March vol. 70 no. 1 2024; (p. 167-168)

— Review of Donald Horne : A Life in the Lucky Country Ryan Cropp , 2023 single work biography

'The familiar periodisations of post-World War II Australian history sample their own versions of Donald Horne, each evoked in Ryan Cropp's biography. There is the ‘mean-spirited’ (p.116) Cold War warrior through to Horne's emergence as ‘Australia's leading republican’ (p.40) in the 1970s. Then comes Horne's prominence at the intersection of ‘public culture’, ‘cultural policy’ and (in retaliation under John Howard as – so Horne described him shortly before his death in 2005– ‘the ayatollah of the Australian character’) the ‘culture wars’ from the 1990s onwards. In between, of course, was The Lucky Country, that incisive account of the average Australian (‘a man in an open-necked shirt, solemnly eating an ice-cream’), never out of print since 1964, set for school curricula, its ironic title so frequently misunderstood.' (Introduction)

1 Nicholas Brown Review of Bob Boughton, Danny Blackman, Mike Donaldson, Carmel Shute and Beverley Symons, Eds, Comrades! Lives of Australian Communists Nicholas Brown , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 7 2023; (p. 253-259)

— Review of Comrades!: Lives of Australian Communists 2020 anthology biography
1 'A Very Liberating Experience' : The Historical Repositioning of Postwar Reconstruction Nicholas Brown , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: The Work of History : Writing for Stuart Macintyre 2022;
1 Scenes from a Marriage Nicholas Brown , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Inside Story , October 2022;

— Review of Persons of Interest : An Intimate Account of Cecily and John Burton Pamela Burton , Meredith Edwards , 2022 single work biography

'Two daughters profile a controversial father and an enigmatic mother against the backdrop of the growing bush capital'

1 [Review] Democratic Adventurer: Graham Berry and the Making of Australian Politics. Nicholas Brown , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Politics and History , September-December vol. 67 no. 3-4 2021; (p. 529-530)

— Review of Democratic Adventurer : Graham Berry and the Making of Australian Politics Sean Scalmer , 2020 single work biography

'Sean Scalmer's biography of Graham Berry (1822–1904) is “an act of historical recovery”, reclaiming Berry — Premier of Victoria in 1875, 1877–1880, and 1880–1881 — as “the most important and influential reformer of a dauntless reforming age”. Scalmer's narrative captures the compressed, volatile dynamics of Victorian colonial politics as Berry, judged “an extreme liberal” on his first election to the Legislative Assembly in 1861, became the most effective advocate for the protectionist principles which would long influence Australian policy and political debate. Applying the fine-grained attention to the “textures” of political activism that characterises his work, Scalmer revives our appreciation of the “political experiment” of colonial Victoria, not least as a source of inspiration “for our own beleaguered polity”.'  (Introduction)

1 Terry Irving on an Unlikely ‘Celebrity of the Left’ Nicholas Brown , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 18 no. 4 2021; (p. 894-895)

— Review of The Fatal Lure of Politics : The Life and Thought of Vere Gordon Childe Terry Irving , 2020 single work biography

'A radical polymath himself, Jack Lindsay recalled Vere Gordon Childe as ‘a bubble-pricker’ yet retained an affectionate regard for this deeply enigmatic man. ‘He was the most detached person I knew’, Lindsay continued, ‘and yet one felt all the while there was a warm core to his gently spoken and deadly sarcasm’ (124). Terry Irving’s biography, similarly, gently works its way around Childe, a figure who demands a measure of introspection as well as a breadth of scholarly investment from those seeking to understand and ‘place’ him.' (Introduction)

1 Men of the World Nicholas Brown , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 18 no. 1 2021; (p. 184-186)

— Review of The Enigmatic Mr Deakin Judith Brett , 2017 single work biography ; JB Chifley : An Ardent Internationalist Julie Suares , 2019 single work biography

'Both Judith Brett’s The Enigmatic Mr Deakin and Julia Suares’ J.B. Chifley: An ardent internationalist have received much attention since their publication in 2017 and 2019. This review is coming late to the parties welcoming the revitalisation of our understanding of two of Australia’s most significant prime ministers. The coupling of these books here might seem unlikely. Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) and Ben Chifley (1885–1951) led during transformative periods. Brett judges Deakin ‘Australia’s most constructive prime minister before … World War Two’ (330); Suares seeks greater recognition of Chifley’s influence in shaping the reconstruction agenda following that war, particularly in pursuing a bold ‘emergent future’ of international cooperation (18). In background and personality, however, the two can hardly have been more different. What can these two studies, and these two men, show when viewed side-by-side? At a time when the personal account dominates discussion of political leadership, it is in itself refreshing to reflect on the different contexts that shaped these figures, not as individual projects but as lives interdependent with their times.' (Introduction)

1 [Review] Idling in Green Places: A Life of Alec Chisholm Nicholas Brown , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Politics and History , March vol. 66 no. 1 2020; (p. 161-162)

— Review of Idling in Green Places : A Life of Alec Chisholm Russell McGregor , 2019 single work biography

'My family home was not bookish, but there was a ten volume set of the Australian Encyclopaedia, shelved alongside the novels of Neville Shute and Arthur Upfield. First published in 1958 by Angus and Robertson, ours was the 1963 edition from the Grolier Society, purchased in response to that US‐based company's practice of direct‐to‐the‐home appeals to parents to take their children's education seriously. I was regularly advised to “look it up”. The Encyclopaedia was a distinctive reference text, exclusively, almost defiantly Australian, with a marked concentration on people, place, native fauna and flora. “Special articles” included 75, 000 words (the longest entry) on “Australia's aborigines”, “written by 12 authorities from various States, and illustrated with 14 pages of photographs and 13 maps”. Its glossy paper squeaked between your fingers: 400 “authorities” gave it gravitas, among them government departments, other institutions and individuals — from the president of a Hard Court Lawn Tennis Association to a retired naval commander (writing on “Australiana”) to a professor of nuclear physics. The Encyclopaedia marked a transition from a self‐improving nationalism to a more objectified learning. Its editor‐in‐chief, “Alec H. Chisholm”, insisted that “human interest” and “Austral‐oddities” must leaven the strict adherence to “facts” demanded by the venture. In this subtle biography of Chisholm, Russell McGregor alerts us to the many ways in which his subject marked several such transitions, and tensions, in his career, persona and personality.' (Introduction)

1 A Vernacular Intellectual : A Probing, Gentle Personality Nicholas Brown , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 421 2020; (p. 31-32)

— Review of I Wonder : The Life and Work of Ken Inglis 2020 anthology biography essay

'I am ashamed to recall that when our high-school history class in the late 1970s was set K.S. Inglis’s The Australian Colonists (1974), I – and I don’t think I was alone – didn’t quite know what to do with a text that focused on ‘ceremonies, monuments and rhetoric’, one that began as a study on 26 January 1788 but worked back as an historical enquiry from 25 April 1915.' (Introduction)

1 Agricultural Reporting Nicholas Brown , 2014 single work companion entry
— Appears in: A Companion to the Australian Media : A 2014; (p. 15-17)
1 9 y separately published work icon A Way Through : The Life of Rick Farley Nicholas Brown , Susan Boden , Sydney : NewSouth Publishing , 2012 Z1844901 2012 single work biography

'Rick Farley was an extraordinary man. As head of the Cattlemen's Union and National Farmers' Federation, a key figure in the Landcare movement and a public campaigner for Indigenous rights and Reconciliation, Farley had an insider's view of many key political and social changes in Australia over his thirty years in the public eye.

'Aligned at various stages with the National Party, ALP and the Australian Democrats, Farley was a political enigma who nevertheless had a straightforward mission: for all Australians "to care a lot better for our country".

'When he died in in a tragic accident in 2006, aged 53, the overwhelming grief and heartfelt tributes of his family, friends, supporters and old adversaries spoke volumes about his achievements and his much-admired ability to find a way through adversity and complex negotiations.

'A Way Through is the engrossing story of a unique man whose determination and sense of justice has left a lasting legacy for many Australians.' (From the publisher's website.)

1 [Review] Father of the House Nicholas Brown , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , December vol. 6 no. 3 2009;

— Review of Father of the House : The Memoirs of Kim E. Beazley Kim E. Beazley , 2009 single work autobiography
1 Andy, Come Up! Nicholas Brown , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 314 2009; (p. 49-50)

— Review of Andrew Fisher : An Underestimated Man Peter Bastian , 2009 single work biography
1 To the Last Man Nicholas Brown , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 307 2008; (p. 11-12)

— Review of Andrew Fisher : Prime Minister of Australia David Day , 2008 single work biography
1 Nicholas Brown Replies Nicholas Brown , 2008 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 301 2008; (p. 4)
Nicholas Brown replies to Bob Reece's correspondence regarding Brown's review titled Thinking Black (ABR April 2008)
1 1 'Thinking Black' Nicholas Brown , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 300 2008; (p. 34-35)

— Review of Daisy Bates : Grand Dame of the Desert Bob Reece , 2007 single work biography ; Desert Queen : The Many Lives and Loves of Daisy Bates Susanna De Vries , 2008 single work biography
1 Untitled Nicholas Brown , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 31 no. 2007; (p. 202-203)

— Review of Rob Riley : An Aboriginal Leader's Quest for Justice Quentin Beresford , 2006 single work biography
1 Everyone Who Has Ever Done a Tree Sit Always Says That the Tree Talks to You Nicholas Brown , 2002 single work essay
— Appears in: Words for Country : Landscape and Language in Australia 2002; (p. 85-101)
1 y separately published work icon One Hand on the Manuscript : Music in Australian Cultural History Nicholas Brown (editor), Peter Campell (editor), Robyn Holmes (editor), Peter Read (editor), Larry Sitsky (editor), Canberra : Australian National University, Humanities Research Centre , 1995 Z1262603 1995 anthology criticism

Comprises papers given at a conference 'Music and Musicians in Australian Cultural History 1930-1960' held at the Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, 25-29 September, 1993.

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