Newspaper editor, columnist, foreign correspondent and ABC broadcaster, he knew countless luminaries of his time, including Rudyard Kipling, Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Haig and Henry Lawson. He fudged his age to enlist during World War I, ultimately driving an ambulance before commanding a horse training unit during that conflict. As a young man he befriended Breaker Morant, and covered the second Boer War as a reporter. But there is more, much more to Banjo's story, and in this landmark biography, award-winning writer Grantlee Kieza chronicles a rich and varied life, one that straddled two centuries and saw Australia transform from a far-flung colony to a fully fledged nation.īorn in the bush, as a child Banjo rode his pony to a one-room school along a trail frequented by outlaw Ben Hall.

He gave us our unofficial national anthem, 'Waltzing Matilda', and treasured ballads such as 'The Man from Snowy River' and 'Clancy of thĮ Overflow', vivid creations that helped to define our national identity. 'Banjo' Paterson is rightly recognised as Australia's greatest storyteller and most celebrated poet, the boy from the bush who became the voice of a generation. But generally, Patrick Harvey was a good narrator of the story.A.B. If they are wrong, they lessen our trust in the narrator. Is there no producer present to make sure the narrator gets these things right? - surely it would be easy, with search engines, to say place names properly. The narrator made quite a few howlers in pronunciation. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Australian and British history. I found the non-Cook sections, before and after the voyages, more interesting, and they certainly showed what a major figure Banks was, not only in science but in public affairs generally, and as a wealthy benefactor for many people and organizations. It was not quite as interesting as the others because I knew so much about Captain Cook's voyages, and Banks' important part in them - but all that had to be told of course. I have enjoyed two other biographies by Grantley Kieza, those of Macquarie and Paterson, and this one is of the same high standard.

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