In Search Of Billy Hughes (1979) By Donald Horne
 
William Morris Hughes was an illusionist who summoned up magical shapes and was an epic enough liar to play some part in the making of his own legend.’  SO begins Donald Horne’s portrait of Hughes, born 1862, the son of a carpenter and domestic servant.  His early childhood was spent in London but following the death of his mother, when he was seven, Hughes spent the next five years living with his aunt in Wales.

He began his working life as a pupil/teacher under the supervision of Matthew Arnold.  In 1884, after five years, he left to seek his fortune in Australia.  His attempts to find work as a schoolteacher were unsuccessful and he went bush.

In this portrait, Donald Horne has revealed one of the most extraordinary men ever to walk the political stage in Australia.  The tiny man with big ears was a contradiction: a radical socialist who was friendly with the press barons; a landowner, patriot and jaunty orator who strutted across Europe with other Empire leaders while the horror of the trenches echoed across the English Channel; a man who became Prime Minister using the language of hatred but was adored by the Anzacs, and was known to them as the ‘Little Digger’.
 
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
136 pages
In Good Condition