Dynasties by Julie Browning and Laurie Critchley

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Pages have started to sun.

From the earliest European settlement, the interests of influential families have shaped Australia's development as a nation. Some still influence our lives.

The Macarthur family, founders of the Australian wool industry, remain pillars of the rural establishment. The land-hungry Duracks forged a pastoral empire, their achievements enshrined in best-selling histories.

In South Australia, pastoral wealth gave rise to one of our foremost political dynasties, the Downers. Victoria became the home of the Russian-born Sidney Myer, founder of a great retail family.

Rupert Murdoch, son of Keith, is head of one of the world's largest cross-media empires, which his children are likely to continue. And over three generations, the De Bortoli family have emerged as one of Australia's most successful postwar migrant dynasties.

These families' stories mirror wider social forces, subject to the pressures of changing times. These six remarkable histories have insights for us all (back cover)