Auchmuty: The life of James Johnston Auchmuty (1909-1981) by Kenneth R DUTTON Brisbane: Boombana Publications, 2000 (477+xxxii pages, 240 x 160 mm, HB, ill., ISBN 1876542055)

One of the most remarkable of Ireland's 'wild geese', James Auchmuty was a man perpetually in movement. Whether in the lecture theatre, the office, or on the world stage as he journeyed from one country to another -- with at times a hasty departure resulting from his clandestine activities -- he faced prosperity and adversity with equal buoyancy and perpetual ebullience.

This book tells the story of a man who knew kings and presidents, academics and archbishops, statesmen and spies. Arriving in Australia as a penniless exile, he almost single-handedly founded a university and became one of Australia's most distinguished Vice-Chancellors.

Kenneth R. Dutton not only traces Auchmuty's academic and administrative career, but explores his character, his foibles, his loves, and his lifelong passion for history.

This is also the story of a fifty-year partnership between James Auchmuty and his wife Margaret, a woman at least his equal in intellect and a remarkable foil to him in character.

Figures as diverse as King Farouk, Eamon de Valera, Robert Menzies, John Betjeman, Gough Whitlam, Samuel Beckett, Donald Maclean and Manning Clark all make their appearance in the course of a fascinating life-story.

EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS

"The old-timers of the University still speak in awe of the Auchmuty days in the University's life; this study brings them abundantly back to life. "This is without a shadow of doubt the most important biography of a vice-chancellor of an Australian university yet written. It sets the high water mark of excellence for others to emulate ... "a detailed and thoroughly researched life story of a prominent twentieth-century academic at a time when scholarship was prized in university circles ... "As foundation vice-chancellor of the University of Newcastle [Auchmuty] was impressively successful in establishing its considerable research and teaching credentials across a broad range of academic disciplines at an early stage. Dutton examines every aspect of Auchmuty's reign in satisfying detail, investing it with colour and liveliness ... "An impressive, well-rounded, illuminating biographical study of a significant educational leader." John Ramsland, Professor of History, Univ. of Newcastle History of Education Review, No. 2, 2002, pp. 92-93

"The life of an Australian vice-chancellor would not seem the most promising subject for an enjoyable biography ... But James Auchmuty, first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, was a most peculiar character. It is his peculiarities, many of them admirable, that make this biography by Kenneth Dutton immensely readable. It brings to life a restless, ambitious, somewhat aggressive personality who served as a spy for MI6, knew King Farouk, and unrelentingly demanded high standards from his new university in the Australian bush. "... this deft biography engages the attention and ultimate admiration of the reader for yet another Irish immigrant who left a big mark on Australian life." The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby Quadrant, April 2001, pp. 79-80

"... an extremely well produced, attractive book ... an absorbing biography of a fascinating man ... infus[ed] with life and colour. "Objections have been raised to biographies on the ground that they do little more than depict the life of their subject against a thinly textured background. This is certainly not the case with the present study. Indeed one of its great strengths is the way in which Professor Dutton builds up a picture of the different cultures in which Auchmuty found himself ... "The writing combines immediacy and freshness with understanding and considerable depth of analysis ... "Auchmuty ... emerges from the pages of this biography as a dominant, ambitious yet likeable and very human figure ... This is an extraordinarily full and detailed study ... always interesting and despite the mass of material highly readable, entertaining and illuminating. In the growing field of Australian biography it stands out as a major contribution to this genre." Brian H. Fletcher, Dept of History, Univ. of Sydney Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Dec 2001, pp. 294-296

"Ken Dutton presents us with a biography which gives a rounded picture of James Auchmuty the academic and the man. He writes about someone he respected and liked. His attitude, however, is not uncritical; he knew James very well and, to a remarkable degree, he has conveyed him as he was. In doing so he has drawn a compelling portrait of a man who gave so much so unstintingly in his several lives; he has shown impressive skill as a biographer and put us all in his debt." Em. Professor A. Norman Jeffares A.N. Jeffares subsequently wrote to the author: "... an excellent biography written with skill and sensitivity... I began reading it when it arrived and with immense pleasure. You have captured the man with affection and a balanced view of his plus (and minus!) qualities... I am extremely impressed by your masterly skills in carrying forward the narrative while giving the details their proper role in it. A tour de force in every way : a model life indeed."

About the author Kenneth R. Dutton was Professor of French at the University of Newcastle, Australia, from 1969 to 1998. During that time, he also served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Convocation. He has written widely in the areas of literary theory, biography and cultural history. Auchmuty is his fourteenth book.

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Last updated 25/2/07