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Santamaria: A Most Unusual Man
B.A. Santamaria was one of the most controversial Australians of our time. An ardent anti-Communist and devout Catholic, he was fiercely intelligent and a natural leader, polarising the community into loyal followers and committed opponents.
In the 1940s Santamaria created the anti-Communist organisation 'The Movement'. In the 1950s he was a key figure in the tumultuous split of the Australian Labor Party. He subsequently enjoyed great influence as a public commentator on his television program Point of View and in his weekly column in The Australian. Santamaria had a strong social conscience and spent much of his time helping the underprivileged. Although he began as an advocate and champion of the Catholic Church, he spent much of his last decades opposing some of its activities.
Published for the 100th anniversary of Santamaria's birth, Santamaria: A Most Unusual Man is an authoritative biography from Gerard Henderson, a close colleague until a disagreement saw the two men estranged and never reconciled.
About the author:
Gerard Henderson BA (Hons), LLB, PhD is executive director of the Sydney Institute and a columnist for the Weekend Australian. He also appears regularly on ABC TV's program Insiders and writes a weekly blog, Media Watch Dog. Henderson's publications include Mr Santamaria and the Bishops (1982), Australian Answers (1990) and Menzies' Child: The Liberal Party of Australia (1994). He was appointed by the Keating government to the board of the Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities and by the Howard government to the Foreign Affairs Council. Henderson chairs the judges' panel of the Prime Minister's Literary Awards for Australian History and Non-fiction.
- See more at: https://www.mup.com.au/items/159548#s...
In the 1940s Santamaria created the anti-Communist organisation 'The Movement'. In the 1950s he was a key figure in the tumultuous split of the Australian Labor Party. He subsequently enjoyed great influence as a public commentator on his television program Point of View and in his weekly column in The Australian. Santamaria had a strong social conscience and spent much of his time helping the underprivileged. Although he began as an advocate and champion of the Catholic Church, he spent much of his last decades opposing some of its activities.
Published for the 100th anniversary of Santamaria's birth, Santamaria: A Most Unusual Man is an authoritative biography from Gerard Henderson, a close colleague until a disagreement saw the two men estranged and never reconciled.
About the author:
Gerard Henderson BA (Hons), LLB, PhD is executive director of the Sydney Institute and a columnist for the Weekend Australian. He also appears regularly on ABC TV's program Insiders and writes a weekly blog, Media Watch Dog. Henderson's publications include Mr Santamaria and the Bishops (1982), Australian Answers (1990) and Menzies' Child: The Liberal Party of Australia (1994). He was appointed by the Keating government to the board of the Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities and by the Howard government to the Foreign Affairs Council. Henderson chairs the judges' panel of the Prime Minister's Literary Awards for Australian History and Non-fiction.
- See more at: https://www.mup.com.au/items/159548#s...
512 pages, Hardcover
First published July 29, 2015
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About the author
Gerard Henderson
13 books2 followersGerard Henderson is executive director of The Sydney Institute and writes a weekly column for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the West Australian.
He is the author of numerous articles and books including Mr Santamaria and the Bishops (Hale & Iremonger, 1982 edition) and Menzies’ Child: The Liberal Party of Australia (Harper Collins, 1998 edition) and appears regularly on ABC Radio National Breakfast and the ABC TV Insiders
program.
He is the author of numerous articles and books including Mr Santamaria and the Bishops (Hale & Iremonger, 1982 edition) and Menzies’ Child: The Liberal Party of Australia (Harper Collins, 1998 edition) and appears regularly on ABC Radio National Breakfast and the ABC TV Insiders
program.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 3, 2016
Gerard Henderson writes a sympathetic and compelling account of the life and work of one of Australia's most intriguing individuals. Bob Santamaria was a devout Catholic layman who led the (secret) Movement for almost 60 years in the battle, initially, against the Communist Party of Australia and, subsequently, in advocating for many issues of the Catholic Social Services agenda.
I was introduced to this book because I was curious about how the Roman Catholic Church in Australia had become separated from its historic connection to the trade union movement (and hence the Australian Labor Party) and become connected to the social conservatives in the Liberal Party, such as former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and others in NSW. This book provides some significant clues, without bogging down in the history of party politics. As with most good biographies, the focus is on the personalities rather than the machinations.
To obtain a fuller understanding of the social forces at work that shaped Bob Santamaria, and continue to shape the Roman Catholic Church today, I am now interested in reading biographies of Archbishop Mannix and Cardinal George Pell.
Other helpful reviews are:
http://theconversation.com/book-revie...
https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/rev...
I was introduced to this book because I was curious about how the Roman Catholic Church in Australia had become separated from its historic connection to the trade union movement (and hence the Australian Labor Party) and become connected to the social conservatives in the Liberal Party, such as former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and others in NSW. This book provides some significant clues, without bogging down in the history of party politics. As with most good biographies, the focus is on the personalities rather than the machinations.
To obtain a fuller understanding of the social forces at work that shaped Bob Santamaria, and continue to shape the Roman Catholic Church today, I am now interested in reading biographies of Archbishop Mannix and Cardinal George Pell.
Other helpful reviews are:
http://theconversation.com/book-revie...
https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/rev...
January 20, 2018
humour less gerarrrrad rights about right wong extremiss whom thought al woz leftist if know one waz agrrreeing with his catholic panoramics. gerarrrrad bitches bout gov hand outs but typical of waomkers like nik carter ecept the dosh an winge and whine about other that get the dosh. Metra fect old boy one imagines (getting very upper class British here) that the very dead and rooting in the cemetary Santamaria would have lost this shyte over the recent vote in favor of poofs and lesos getting hitched
got this crap from the library paid for by the tax contibuuuutor and no doubt gerarrrrad is outrage bout leftwing liberal pathet shinging path lao bloke usuing libary fuk im.
got this crap from the library paid for by the tax contibuuuutor and no doubt gerarrrrad is outrage bout leftwing liberal pathet shinging path lao bloke usuing libary fuk im.
March 27, 2020
Interesting biography of a most unusual man, church and state.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews