Manning Clark

Manning Clark (1915–1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987.

Manning Clark reviews ‘A Most Valuable Acquisition: A People’s History of Australia since 1788’ Edited by Verity Burgmann and Jenny Lee

March 1988, no. 98 • 01 March 1988

Women’s fashions change every year. History fashions change every decade. When I was at school and at University history books told me to be grateful for being British. Out on the streets I was told ‘Buy British and be proud of it!’. Times change, brother – as Colin Cartwright, Barry Humphries’ creation, pointed out. Now, in the season of the sere and yellow leaf, I am asked to read a hi ... (read more)

Manning Clark reviews 'Joan Makes History' by Kate Grenville

May 1988, no. 100 • 01 May 1988

Soul-searching about our past is the new literary fashion. It is the period in which the breast-beaters, the moral Pharisees, are driven to tell us how, unlike their predecessors, they have political and moral virtue. The Aborigines, women and ordinary people have become the ‘goodies’, and all those who ignored them in their books or their teaching have become the ‘baddies’. The winds of c ... (read more)