AustLit

'John Springthorpe was a prominent Melbourne physician, reformer and public intellectual, having been active in a variety of positions from the 1880s. During World War I, he played a significant and often controversial part in important debates, both overseas in Egypt and Europe and at home in Australia. In each of the specific instances discussed in this article, Springthorpe revealed a preparedness to venture outside the boundaries of behaviour expected of a medical figure of his standing. While he used his reputation in the community to express his views, as he had done prior to 1914, this approach may have been inadvisable in the highly charged atmosphere of the Great War. ' (Author's introduction)