Tommy Bent

Tommy Bent

$27.45 AUD $15.00 AUD

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NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.
Author: Margaret Glass

Format: Paperback

Number of Pages: 232


Described by Alfred Deakin as "the most brazen, untrustworthy ...intriguer" the Victorian Legislative Assembly had ever known, Thomas Bent entered Parliament in 1871 after having made use of his position as Brighton's rate-collector to stack the electoral rolls against his opponent. Bent used his keen understanding of people and his manipulative skills to exert a profound influence on Victorian politics and on the physical and economic development of Melbourne. He is vividly remembered by many as a thorough scoundrel, but many Brighton residents still revere him as the founder of Brighton's fortunes. This biography, based on abundant archival material, shows a man of great power and no scruples consistently using his positions in local and Victorian politics to further his own ends. He made a fortune as one of Melbourne's land-boomers, yet he seems not to have enjoyed the fruits of wealth -- he suffered great financial losses and lived very frugally. In this lively study, the author explores the relationship between the unsatisfactory personal life of this enigmatic man and his pathological need to wield power. Dr Margaret Glass is a researcher in history with a particular interest in the poeple who created and were destroyed by Melbourne's land boom of the 1880s.
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Description
NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.
Author: Margaret Glass

Format: Paperback

Number of Pages: 232


Described by Alfred Deakin as "the most brazen, untrustworthy ...intriguer" the Victorian Legislative Assembly had ever known, Thomas Bent entered Parliament in 1871 after having made use of his position as Brighton's rate-collector to stack the electoral rolls against his opponent. Bent used his keen understanding of people and his manipulative skills to exert a profound influence on Victorian politics and on the physical and economic development of Melbourne. He is vividly remembered by many as a thorough scoundrel, but many Brighton residents still revere him as the founder of Brighton's fortunes. This biography, based on abundant archival material, shows a man of great power and no scruples consistently using his positions in local and Victorian politics to further his own ends. He made a fortune as one of Melbourne's land-boomers, yet he seems not to have enjoyed the fruits of wealth -- he suffered great financial losses and lived very frugally. In this lively study, the author explores the relationship between the unsatisfactory personal life of this enigmatic man and his pathological need to wield power. Dr Margaret Glass is a researcher in history with a particular interest in the poeple who created and were destroyed by Melbourne's land boom of the 1880s.