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The Australians #11
The Nationalists
The eleventh epic volume in the saga of a great young nation, rugged,restless and boundless with dreams.
Back of book:
A Time of War and Glory-A time for the "new" Australians to forge a wild land into one united state.
The days of exploration were over. Now cries of "unlock the land!" echoed from the outback to the cosmopolitan streets of Sydney. A young generation-farmers, bushrangers, dancehall girls, shippers, soldier's and "mates"-would be the first to call this down-under land their native soil.
Their dream was one nation under God united. Their champions were THE NATIONALISTS like beautiful Java Gordon, daughter of Jessica Broome, whose vibrant passion declared a fierce, proud country hers to fight for. But other voices raised the specter of race, hatred and violence. Now the move toward unity could forever divide a people...or prove the ultimate triumph for those who challenged an entire continent to creat one free and mighty land.
Back of book:
A Time of War and Glory-A time for the "new" Australians to forge a wild land into one united state.
The days of exploration were over. Now cries of "unlock the land!" echoed from the outback to the cosmopolitan streets of Sydney. A young generation-farmers, bushrangers, dancehall girls, shippers, soldier's and "mates"-would be the first to call this down-under land their native soil.
Their dream was one nation under God united. Their champions were THE NATIONALISTS like beautiful Java Gordon, daughter of Jessica Broome, whose vibrant passion declared a fierce, proud country hers to fight for. But other voices raised the specter of race, hatred and violence. Now the move toward unity could forever divide a people...or prove the ultimate triumph for those who challenged an entire continent to creat one free and mighty land.
449 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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231 people want to read
About the author
William Stuart Long
39 books37 followersViolet Vivian Finlay was born on 2 January 1914 in Berkshire, England, UK, the daughter of Alice Kathleen (née Norton) and Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay. Her father was the owner and director of Burmah Oil Company Ltd., whose Scottish family also owned James Finlay and Company Ltd. The majority of her childhood and youth was spent in Rangoon, Burma (now also known as Myanmar), where her father worked. During her life, she frequently journeyed between India, Singapore, Java and Sumatra.
Although Vivian is well-known by the surname of Stuart, she married four times during her lifetime, and had five children: Gillian Rushton (née Porch), Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch (née Stuart), and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart.
Following the dissolution of her first marriage, she studied for a time Law in London in the mid 1930s, before decided studied Medicine at the University of London. Later she spent time in Hungary in the capacity of private tutor in English, while she obtained a pathologist qualification at the University of Budapest in 1938. In 1939, she emigrated to Australia with her second husband, a Hungarian Doctor Geza Santow with whom she worked. In 1942, she obtained a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at Technical Institute of Newcastle. Having earned an ambulance driver's certificate, she joined the Australian Forces at the Women's Auxiliary Service during World War II. She was attached to the IVth Army, and raised to the rank of sergeant, she was posted to British XIV Army in Rangoon, Burma in October 1945, and was then transferred to Sumatra in December. After the WWII, she returned to England. On 24 October 1958, she married her fourth and last husband, Cyril William Mann, a bank manager.
She was a prolific writer from 1953 to 1986 under diferent pseudonyms: Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, V. A. Stuart, William Stuart Long and Robyn Stuart. Many of her novels were protagonized by doctors or nurses, and set in Asia, Australia or other places she had visited. Her romance novel, Gay Cavalier published in 1955 as Alex Stuart got her into trouble with her Mills & Boon editors when she featured a secondary story line featuring a Catholic male and Protestant female who chose to marry. This so-called "mixed marriage" touched nerves in the United Kingdom.
In 1960, she was a founder of the Romantic Novelists' Association, along with Denise Robins, Barbara Cartland, and others; she was elected the first Chairman (1961-1963). In 1970, she became the first woman to chair Swanwick Writers' Summer School.
Violet Vivian Finlay Porch Santow Stuart Mann passed away on August 1986 in Yorkshire, at age 72. She continued writing until her death.
Although Vivian is well-known by the surname of Stuart, she married four times during her lifetime, and had five children: Gillian Rushton (née Porch), Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch (née Stuart), and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart.
Following the dissolution of her first marriage, she studied for a time Law in London in the mid 1930s, before decided studied Medicine at the University of London. Later she spent time in Hungary in the capacity of private tutor in English, while she obtained a pathologist qualification at the University of Budapest in 1938. In 1939, she emigrated to Australia with her second husband, a Hungarian Doctor Geza Santow with whom she worked. In 1942, she obtained a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at Technical Institute of Newcastle. Having earned an ambulance driver's certificate, she joined the Australian Forces at the Women's Auxiliary Service during World War II. She was attached to the IVth Army, and raised to the rank of sergeant, she was posted to British XIV Army in Rangoon, Burma in October 1945, and was then transferred to Sumatra in December. After the WWII, she returned to England. On 24 October 1958, she married her fourth and last husband, Cyril William Mann, a bank manager.
She was a prolific writer from 1953 to 1986 under diferent pseudonyms: Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, V. A. Stuart, William Stuart Long and Robyn Stuart. Many of her novels were protagonized by doctors or nurses, and set in Asia, Australia or other places she had visited. Her romance novel, Gay Cavalier published in 1955 as Alex Stuart got her into trouble with her Mills & Boon editors when she featured a secondary story line featuring a Catholic male and Protestant female who chose to marry. This so-called "mixed marriage" touched nerves in the United Kingdom.
In 1960, she was a founder of the Romantic Novelists' Association, along with Denise Robins, Barbara Cartland, and others; she was elected the first Chairman (1961-1963). In 1970, she became the first woman to chair Swanwick Writers' Summer School.
Violet Vivian Finlay Porch Santow Stuart Mann passed away on August 1986 in Yorkshire, at age 72. She continued writing until her death.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 4, 2018
I love this series. There were a couple of weaker entries earlier on in this series but this one is really well done. While I’m glad I’ve read it, I’m sad that I’m now on the 12th and final books in the series. Please read this series if you are at all interested in Australian history, and or historical fiction.
April 23, 2025
Gawd, it is now April 2025 and it has taken me this long to finish this book! Gah, where to start! It only got interesting in the last few chapters, and to be honest I feel I could have skipped 90% of this and still got the gist of it. Bit like watching a daytime soap opera, doesn't matter if you miss a few days of it, you still know what is going on.
July 20, 2016
After giving every other book, so far, in this series a 4 or 5 star, this one gets a 3. It took nearly 1/3 of the book to get a good pace. I had trouble actually getting to like most of the characters in this book. It seemed more like a collection of unrelated stories that are somehow supposed to be seamed together at the end.
This book was published 3 years after the death of the author - given how quickly she wrote, I have no doubt that it was finished long before then. Still, none of her previous books in this series dragged on like this one did. Possible ghost writer completion? I don't know. Still, a worthy read and continuation on the history of Australia.
This book was published 3 years after the death of the author - given how quickly she wrote, I have no doubt that it was finished long before then. Still, none of her previous books in this series dragged on like this one did. Possible ghost writer completion? I don't know. Still, a worthy read and continuation on the history of Australia.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews