ISBN 9781863551458 ISBN (10-digit) 186355145X
Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-225)
Summary from the back cover: In this book Edmund Campion tells stories of people from Australia's Catholic history. It is history through story rather than dates and facts, a history of people in the pews rather than popes and bishops - though there are some bishops here. Stories of men and women, priests and laypeople, sinners and saints, recent and from the past.
It is stated within the publisher’s summary ‘it is history through story rather than dates and facts’. Truly these are 'stories', but the reader can place a high reliance upon any dates and facts included in these short narratives because of the knowledge and expertise of the author, Edmund Campion. He is an eminent Australian historian who has written and edited numerous works. A few of his other books are 'Rockchoppers','Australian Catholics' and 'Ted Kennedy: priest of Redfern' demonstrating the history of the Catholic Church in Australia as his special area of interest.
The people whose stories Campion shares are absolutely engaging because they are revealed in terms of their character and personality. The entries are honest insights not only to the person, but to the times and people who surrounded them. Many names were familiar to me, but a most special entry is Margaret Press, RSJ because I knew her personally. She spent much of her working life writing history and I am sure it could be someone’s life work to write a full biography of this great, academically gifted nun.
Anyone interested in Australian history would enjoy this book, not only Catholics. It is suited to Secondary students as a tool to identify a topic or person of interest to find out more about and research for Australian history or Social Science subjects. If any of the identities prick the reader’s interest, Campion helpfully provides a Resource Guide suggesting a title where you can read more about the person (or in the case of Margaret Press by her). The style of writing is definitely intended to make these characters of the Australian Church come alive. Since only a few pages are devoted to each person, the book is easy to pick up and put down using short spurts of time. The only problem, if you can call it a problem, is that once you start reading it’s awfully hard to put this book down!
Works by Edmund Campion mentioned in this post:
Australian Catholics. Ringwood, Vic. : Penguin, 1988. ISBN 0014010844
Rockchoppers : growing up Catholic in Australia. Ringwood, Vic. : Penguin, 1982. ISBN 0140064451
Ted Kennedy : priest of Redfern. Kew East, Vic. : David Lovell Publishing., 2009. ISBN 1863551298
NOTE: Any DVDs, Books & Media resources named in this post are available for loan to schools and other bona fide patrons of the Catholic Resource Centre, Bathurst, NSW (Australia). The Centre can provide supplier/distributor information to others in Australia.