person or book cover
Image courtesy of Penguin Books Australia
Issue Details: First known date: 1983... 1983 West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A timeless classic of gender and federal politics.

'It is 1977, two years after Australia’s constitutional crisis. The bureaucrats in West Block, home of the Prime Minister’s department, are recovering from the shock of
Gough Whitlam’s dismissal.

'George Harland schemes to preserve his departmental standing. Henry Beeker stakes his career on stalling a policy while Catherine Duffy risks her life rescuing victims of an ill-conceived one. Jonathan Roe sets off the tripwires in textbook economics. And all the while, Cassie Armstrong, head of the department’s women’s unit, is driven to despair.

'Life is tense in West Block. Pigeons nest in the leaking roof. A move is imminent: it’s feared the government plans to tear the building down. Old time bureaucrats are adjusting to a new, feminist presence in its corridors. At one time or other housing most of the federal public service, West Block is more than just a rundown office building. Here is the nation in microcosm.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1983 .
      person or book cover
      Image courtesy of Penguin Books Australia
      Extent: 290p.
      Note/s:
      • Published January 1983
      ISBN: 0140067310
    • Manly Vale, Manly - Allambie - Curl Curl area, Sydney Northeastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: For Pity Sake Publishing , 2020 .
      image of person or book cover 8796618899945666023.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 350p.
      Edition info: 2nd ed.; enhanced ed.
      Note/s:
      • Published September 2020
      ISBN: 9780648565789, 0648565785

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Michele Seminara Launches Sara Dowse’s West Block Michele Seminara , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Verity La , November 2020;
Imagining Activist Times in the Historical Novel Margaret Henderson , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Marking Feminist Times : Remembering the Longest Revolution in Australia 2006; (p. 95-129)
The Real Scribes of Canberra Russell Wenholz , 1997 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 January 1997; (p. 16)
My Favorite Book : Sara Dowse Dianne Dempsey , 1995 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 October 1995; (p. 9)
Between Life and Art Sara Dowse , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February-March no. 148 1993; (p. 8-11)
A Novel Approach to Bureaucrats Sandy Duncombe , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , April vol. 28 no. 4 1984; (p. 85-86)

— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins Sara Dowse , 1983 single work novel
Recent Fiction Michael Sexton , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , May no. 94-95 1984; (p. 78-79)

— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins Sara Dowse , 1983 single work novel ; Sticks That Kill : A Novel Trevor Shearston , 1983 single work novel ; Slate and Me and Blanche McBride Georgia Savage , 1983 single work novel ; The Bodysurfers Robert Drewe , 1983 selected work short story ; Matilda, My Darling Nigel Krauth , 1983 single work novel
Untitled Debra Adelaide , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Good Reading Guide 1989; (p. 64)

— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins Sara Dowse , 1983 single work novel
Untitled Peter Williams , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Good Reading Guide 1989; (p. 64-65)

— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins Sara Dowse , 1983 single work novel
Imagining Activist Times in the Historical Novel Margaret Henderson , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Marking Feminist Times : Remembering the Longest Revolution in Australia 2006; (p. 95-129)
My Favorite Book : Sara Dowse Dianne Dempsey , 1995 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 October 1995; (p. 9)
Hard-Won Point of View Sara Dowse , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 47 1991; (p. 12-15)
Untitled Sara Dowse , 1987 single work biography
— Appears in: Imagining the Real : Australian Writing in the Nuclear Age 1987; (p. 146-151)
The Real Scribes of Canberra Russell Wenholz , 1997 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 January 1997; (p. 16)
Last amended 14 Oct 2020 07:53:44
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