Our book of the month is Andrew Tink's fine new biography of Lord Sydney, promoter of the 1788 settlement of New South Wales and the man for whom our city was named.

Andrew Tink spent nineteen years in the New South Wales Parliament, including eleven as a Shadow Minister and three as Shadow Leader of the House. Had he stayed on he would now be in government of course, but he chose to step down in 2007 to concentrate on his writing. He is a politician who can write; and he understands history better than most. Politicians ought to be good at history (otherwise, as we know, they will be condemned to repeat it) but not that many are, and we think none in recent times has dug quite as deeply as Andrew. Those who read his last book on William Charles Wentworth will already know of his capacity for detailed research and his ability to explain complex details of political alliances and circles of friendship and influence.

His new biography of Sydney is our current book of the month, and can be ordered from our website. A limited edition will be published during 2012 and we will be happy to let anyone interested know about this when the time comes - please email us to be put on the reserve list.

The English statesman Thomas Townshend, widely known as Tommy Townshend, eventually Baron and later Viscount Sydney, was the most significant of the proponents of the plan to send the First Fleet to Botany Bay, and the man for whom Sydney Cove was named by Governor Phillip. As Home Secretary in Pitt's government Sydney was the first to announce George III's decision to send out the First Fleet in August 1786. He was directly responsible for the choice of Phillip to command the fleet and to be the colony's first governor. He took an enlightened view to the penal settlement, and much of the philosophy of government practised by Governor Phillip can be attributed to his influence. Sydney's influence as Home Secretary was considerable, all the more remarkable given the slender resources at his disposal. With a total of just 17 staff, including the doorman and a housekeeper, he administered British affairs across the globe. At least three settlements were named in his honour: the colony at Port Jackson, Sydney Town on Norfolk Island and another township in Nova Scotia, so called by grateful loyalists after their champion.

ISBN: 9781921875434

Paper back.

$39.95+ Shipping