They Called Him Old Smoothie
Australian History World War II Military Biography Political Biography Governors & Vice-Regal History Post-war Australian Politics Signed Collector Editions
Signed by the author, this hardcover first edition of They Called Him Old Smoothie is the definitive biography of Sir Roden Cutler, Victoria’s longest-serving governor and the only Australian WW-II Victoria Cross recipient to become vice-regal. In 484 illustrated pages, historian Peter Golding traces the journey of the “Old Smoothie” from battlefield heroics in Syria to the glittering opening night of the Sydney Opera House and the back-rooms of Federal Parliament, delivering a riveting blend of military adventure, political intrigue and social history that reads like fiction yet is foot-noted like the scholarly work it is.
Collectors prize this 2009 Australian Scholarly Publishing release because it is the only comprehensive life of Cutler ever issued in book form and it remains out-of-print; the author’s signature on the title page turns an already scarce title into a true collector piece. The volume is packed with more than 100 rare photographs, private letters and cabinet minutes never previously published, giving readers an insider’s view of the Liberal Party’s early faction fights, the birth of the Victorian Arts Centre and the behind-the-scenes diplomacy that shaped post-war Australia. Young adults and general readers alike are drawn to Cutler’s charisma, while political buffs value the meticulous chronology of a governor who mediated three premiers and two constitutional crises.
This copy is in very good, clean condition—no ex-library marks, no inscriptions—so it sits proudly on any Australiana, military or political history shelf. Whether you are hunting the perfect gift for a history lover, filling a gap in a collection of Australian vice-regal or VC biographies, or simply want a cracking true story that moves from the trenches to the vice-regal yacht, a signed first edition of They Called Him Old Smoothie is a tangible slice of Australia’s twentieth-century story that appreciates every year it stays out of print.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
Buy Now