Power Without Glory
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few novels in Australian literary history have ignited as fierce a controversy as Power Without Glory — the book that, as its own cover boldly proclaims, tore Australia apart. Set against the sprawling backdrop of Melbourne's working-class suburbs from the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth, the novel chronicles the ruthless rise of John West, a fictional magnate whose grip on politics, crime, and commerce mirrors the real-life empire of racing and gambling czar John Wren. Frank Hardy constructs a searing portrait of unchecked ambition, corruption, and moral decay, tracing how one man's hunger for power corrodes everything and everyone around him. Hardy's prose is unflinching and documentary in its precision, blurring the line between fiction and exposé with a confidence that made the novel a landmark — and a legal flashpoint — upon its self-published release in 1950, when Hardy faced criminal libel charges that only amplified the book's notoriety. Rooted in the traditions of social realism, Power Without Glory stands as a foundational text in Australian literature, arguing that the machinery of political and economic power is inherently indifferent to justice or decency. For readers who dare to follow John West's ascent, the novel poses a question that lingers long after the final page: at what cost does a nation build its ruling class?
Author: Frank Hardy
Format: Paperback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few novels in Australian literary history have ignited as fierce a controversy as Power Without Glory — the book that, as its own cover boldly proclaims, tore Australia apart. Set against the sprawling backdrop of Melbourne's working-class suburbs from the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth, the novel chronicles the ruthless rise of John West, a fictional magnate whose grip on politics, crime, and commerce mirrors the real-life empire of racing and gambling czar John Wren. Frank Hardy constructs a searing portrait of unchecked ambition, corruption, and moral decay, tracing how one man's hunger for power corrodes everything and everyone around him. Hardy's prose is unflinching and documentary in its precision, blurring the line between fiction and exposé with a confidence that made the novel a landmark — and a legal flashpoint — upon its self-published release in 1950, when Hardy faced criminal libel charges that only amplified the book's notoriety. Rooted in the traditions of social realism, Power Without Glory stands as a foundational text in Australian literature, arguing that the machinery of political and economic power is inherently indifferent to justice or decency. For readers who dare to follow John West's ascent, the novel poses a question that lingers long after the final page: at what cost does a nation build its ruling class?