AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Opinion is still sharply divided on whether Breaker Morant and his Australian co-defendants were criminals who got what they deserved, or scapegoats used by the British Empire. Major Thomas, the bush lawyer drafted in at the last minute to defend them, is invariably depicted as either a hero or an incompetent fool. Now, for the first time, Greg Growden attempts to unravel the truth about the lawyer and soldier who returned from South Africa a broken man.
'Before the Boer War, Major Thomas had been a pillar of his community. He was a published poet, newspaper proprietor, lawyer and decorated soldier, but defending Breaker Morant became the defining episode of his life. The former ‘King of Tenterfield’ endured a stunning fall from grace, slipping into bankruptcy and imprisonment. Thomas ended his days as an eccentric recluse, his life ruined by the ignominy and frustration of finding himself on the wrong side of history.
'For more than a century he has been a footnote in diverging historical arguments. A proper hearing for Major Thomas is long overdue.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
From the Bush to the Breaker
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 28 September 2019; (p. 20)
— Review of Major Thomas 2019 single work biography'The Bushveldt Carbineers, raised in South Africa in 1901, were volunteer cavalry, under the command of Lord Kitchener of the British Army. In reality, the Carbineers constituted the most disgraced military unit in which Australians have ever served. Notorious for their indiscipline and contempt for the established rules of war, their most infamous officers were Lieutenant Harry “Breaker” Morant and Lieutenant Peter Handcock.' (Introduction)
-
From the Bush to the Breaker
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 28 September 2019; (p. 20)
— Review of Major Thomas 2019 single work biography'The Bushveldt Carbineers, raised in South Africa in 1901, were volunteer cavalry, under the command of Lord Kitchener of the British Army. In reality, the Carbineers constituted the most disgraced military unit in which Australians have ever served. Notorious for their indiscipline and contempt for the established rules of war, their most infamous officers were Lieutenant Harry “Breaker” Morant and Lieutenant Peter Handcock.' (Introduction)
