Power Without Glory
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| 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
The Novel
The novel was a fictionalised version of the life of Melbourne businessman and Australian Labor Party power-broker, John Wren. 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). 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 Victorian Premier Sir Thomas Bent and Prime Minister James Scullin, as well as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Daniel Mannix.
The novel is set during World War I, and the debate about conscription is a major issue in the novel. 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.
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. 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. Hardy later detailed his experiences during the case in his book The Hard Way.
Cultural Influence
In 1976, the novel was made into an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television series starring Martin Vaughan as West.
The local library of Collingwood was named the Carringbush LIbrary for several years as a tribute to the novel.
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