Geoffrey Blainey

Geoffrey Blainey is one of Australia's best-known commentators and historians.
He was brought up in Victorian country towns, including Terang, Leongatha, Geelong and Ballarat. From Wesley College he went to the University of Melbourne to study history.

His first book was published in 1954, and since then he has written another 23. His books include Triumph of the Nomads, The Rush That Never Ended, and a work widely quoted in the United States and entitled The Causes of War. Another book, The Tyranny of Distance, gave Australia one of its most popular sayings. He recently wrote a history of the origins of Australian-rules football called "A Game of Our Own".

Many will remember his televised history of Australia The Blainey View, which was shown in ten episodes on ABC television. He has also written weekly columns for a variety of newspapers.

For twenty years he was a professor of economic history and then Ernest Scott Professor of History at the University of Melbourne. He also held the Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University. At one time he was Chairman of various federal government organisations, but in recent years his comments have won him few friends in Canberra.

In New York in 1988, Geoffrey Blainey - along with the famous economist J K Galbraith - was awarded the celebrated Britannica Prize "for excellence in the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of mankind".