| Book Review | Labour History, 96 | The History Cooperative

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to Labor History online. About 288 words from this article are provided below; about 552 words remain.

If you are a individual subscriber to Labour History, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a subscriber to Labour History, you can:: • subscribe here.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of Labour History (82 - present).
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

BOOK REVIEW

David Day, Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2008. pp. 496. $49.95 cloth.

Andrew Fisher's daughter Margaret (Peggy) described her father as a 'man who saw visions and dreamed dreams and who served God faithfully all the days of his life'. This captures some of the quality of the man and something of what made Fisher such a good man and such a successful politician. Up until recently Fisher has been treated more like a footnote in Australia's history rather than a major chapter. This is highlighted by the fact, a fact as shameful as it is surprising, that the book under review is the first biography of Fisher. Reflecting on significant figures in Australia history, Gough Whitlam noted that:

a persistent feature of Australia's political history [is that] our chief men and our chief efforts have been singularly associated with failure and frustration ... There is indeed a deep poignancy in the fate of a remarkably long list of our chief figures from the very beginning: Phillip embittered and exhausted; Bligh disgraced; Macquarie despised here and discredited at home; Macarthur mad; Wentworth rejecting the meaning of his own achievements; Parkes bankrupt; Deakin outliving his superb faculties in a long twilight of senility; Fisher forgotten.

Fisher forgotten! Sadly Whitlam's analysis was accurate. Fisher, a man who was Prime Minister three times, who led Australia at the start of World War I, who led Labor Governments that introduced some of the most important and radical legislation in Australian history, was indeed largely forgotten. Thankfully in the last few years Fisher's star has risen dramatically and a number of commentators have argued persuasively that he deserves to be placed amongst our greatest Prime Ministers.

. . .

There are about 552 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.