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Power Without Glory
200ppx
Author Frank Hardy
Country Australia
Language English
Genre(s) Thriller, Novel
Publisher Random House
Publication date 1950
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 660 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-09-184206-9

Power Without Glory is a 1950 novel written by Australian writer and Communist Frank Hardy. Frank Hardy ( 21 March, 1917 &ndash 28 January, 1994) was a Left-wing Novelist and Writer from Australia For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The thriller is a broad Genre of Literature, Film, Gaming and Television. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Random House Inc is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Frank Hardy ( 21 March, 1917 &ndash 28 January, 1994) was a Left-wing Novelist and Writer from Australia The work was originally self-published, and later adapted into a mini-series by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (1976). The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Contents

The Novel

The novel is a fictionalised version of the life of Melbourne businessman and Australian Labor Party power-broker, John Wren. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953 was an Australian businessman It is set in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Carringbush, which is based on the actual suburbs of Abbotsford and Collingwood (Abbotsford was known as Carringbush in the 19th century). Abbotsford is a small Inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, nestled in between Collingwood, Richmond Collingwood is an Inner city Suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In the novel, West is involved in criminal activities related to gambling and political machinations.

The book also included characters based on other important Victorian and Australian political figures, including:

The barely-disguised motivation for the "West" character is made clear by the fact that West, like Wren, also has a brother called "Arthur" who spent time in jail for aiding and abetting a crime of rape. (Wren's other brother, Joseph, does not appear in the novel. ) Wren's wife Ellen Mahon appears as "Nellie", and there is space in the novel given to three of his children - his violinist daughter Margaret, his son John Jnr, and another daughter who became a communist.

The novel is set during World War I, and the debate about conscription is a major issue in the novel. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Conscription in Australia, or mandatory Military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood Conscription in Australia, or mandatory Military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood John West is a fierce patriot who supports conscription, and his sometimes fiery debates with the Irish-Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, who opposes conscription on the grounds that to send men to aid England was against his, and Ireland's, historical enmity with that country. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

The Court Case

Hardy was tried for criminal libel in 1951 because of the depiction in the novel of "West's" wife having an affair, but he was acquitted on the grounds that the work was, as he said, a mixture of fact and fiction. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January It was the last prosecution for criminal (as opposed to civil) libel in Victoria.

The case attracted enormous publicity, coinciding as it did with the anti-Communist referendum and served mainly to give the novel and the negative portrayal of Wren greater prominence. The 1951 Australian Referendum was held on 22 September 1951. Hardy later detailed his experiences during the case in his book The Hard Way.

Hardy's inclusion of Ellen's ("Nellie's") affair with bricklayer Bill Egan, who worked on the Wren mansion, was based on Wren's own belief that his daughter Angela was the illegitimate product of that affair. Just prior to the book's first (underground) publication, Hardy was wracked with uncertainty as to whether it was ethical to include the episode: he was worried about the book's impact on the "living innocents". He was eventually convinced to include it by the former Communist Party leader JB Miles and, it seems, Angela herself - who is portrayed in the book as "Xavier". This article is about the historical Communist Party of Australia dissolved in 1991 (Hardy was originally going to call the character "Annette" but changed the baby's sex so as to provide another layer of protection for Angela. ) The real-life Angela committed suicide in 1956, and although Hardy's latest biographer Jenny Hocking was unable to find concrete evidence for Angela's assistance, she does believe it was provided.

Cultural Influence

In 1976, the novel was made into an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television series starring Martin Vaughan as West. While "Nellie's" affair with the brickie is depicted, the affair does not produce a child.

The local library of Collingwood was named the Carringbush LIbrary for several years as a tribute to the novel.

References

James Griffin, 'Wren, John (1871-1953)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol 12 (Melb UP, 1990), 580; online.

Jason Steger, 'Mrs Wren and the brickie: The veil lifted', the Age (Melbourne), 12 Nov 2005; online. The Age is a Broadsheet daily Newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854

Jenny Hocking, Frank Hardy: Politics, Literature, Life (Lothian, 2005).

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