“The birth of a nation called for many fathers, none of whom could be pre-eminent, and when Parkes died the federation was only a balloon floating beckoningly in the air.”

Australian historian, academic, best-selling author and commentator

Geoffrey Blainey is an Australian historian, academic, best-selling author, and commentator. He is known for his work on Australian history and for bringing historical ideas to a wide public audience. Blainey has written extensively on Australia and on the ways history shapes public life. Alongside his academic work, he has built a large readership as an author and public commentator, and his writing is often associated with broad historical interpretation rather than narrow specialist study.