Great at Heart

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>While Charles Bean is the subject of several major biographies this is the first life story of his acolyte war correspondent and editor and principal author of the official history of the Second World War Gavin Long.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>In </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>Great at Heart</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)> Garry Hills traces Long's career as a newspaper correspondent during the 1920s and as a defence correspondent for the </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>Sydney Morning Herald </em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>until the outbreak of war in 1939. The book covers Long's experiences as a war correspondent attached to the British Expeditionary Force in Europe until the evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940 and then with the 2nd AIF in North Africa the Middle East and Greece.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>In 1941 when Charles Bean began advocating for an official history of the war then in progress he was influential in having his protégé Long appointed General Editor - a role Long discharged with considerable dedication courage and self-sacrifice between 1943 and 1963 overseeing the development of all 22 volumes and writing three of them himself.</span></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>'Gavin Long was one of Australia's most eminent historians creating with others the 22-volume history of Australia in the Second World War. His extraordinary achievement was largely forgotten until Garry Hills rescued Long's reputation. In this highly readable moving and generous account of Long's life Hills has fashioned a tale that all those interested in the story of Australia will want to read.' Dr Michael McKernan Historian</strong></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>'Garry Hills has done the right thing by Gavin Long. He succeeds in getting inside Long's ways of thinking and working showing that he was indeed great at heart.' Professor Peter Stanley author of<em> Beyond The Broken Years</em></strong></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(55 65 81 1)>'It is a rare privilege to recommend a book that is both timely and important. <em>Great at Heart</em> is both. Gavin Long's legacy has waited too many years for a biography worthy of its significance but the wait is over. I recommend this fine work to all readers - from professional scholars to all who seek to understand Australia's past. And it's a ripping read to boot!' Professor Craig Stockings Official Historian of Australian Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Australian Peacekeeping Operations in East Timor UNSW Canberra</strong></p>