Henry Lawson

This is the definitive collection of the stories of Henry Lawson, best loved of all Australia's writers. Geoffrey Blainey, one of our country's most revered historians, has selected the master's greatest work. This is arguably the most coherent and reader-friendly selection of Lawson ever published.

Blainey's marvellous introduction traces Lawson's early years, and brings to light fascinating details—for example that Australia's best-loved short-story teller always wanted to be a poet. Blainey reveals the world that Lawson inhabited, and the challenges faced by he and his family in a time before welfare existed to assist those living in poverty. He not only brings a fresh view to the writings of Henry Lawson, but also observes the conditions under which Lawson wrote, and illustrates the contrast between the romantic ideal and the often brutal reality.

A lifelong devotee, Blainey has selected the very best of Henry Lawson for this collection, which includes 'The Drover's Wife', 'Joe Wilson's Courtship', 'Water Them Geraniums' and 'The Loaded Dog'. With its tales of gold prospecting and of settlers suffering hardship and heartbreak, as well as his seldom-seen verse, this is the essential Lawson collection—the classic of Australian classics.

Praise for Henry Lawson:

'Some very good writing by two justifiably famous Australians.'

Sunday Age

'The handsome volume is edited and introduced by Geoffrey Blainey, a brilliant prose writer in his own right.'

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