Paul Adams @ Underground Talk
They don't make politicians like `Jack' Brookfield anymore. From mining underground in broken Hill he `rose like a meteor in public life' to be possibly the most extreme anti-politician ever to be elected in this country. The Great War and the years that followed saw unprecedented political turmoil in Australia, and Brookfield was in the thick of it. By the times he was fatally shot at Riverton in South Australia, Brookfield held the balance of power in NSW and had played major roles in many of the era's main political and industrial events: the Big Strike, the plot of the `IWW Twelve' to burn down Sydney, and the bitter national conscription debate.
"Percy Brookfield was a giant among labour leaders. In life, as in the manner of death, he made personal sacrifice the measure of his political commitment. Morally and physically fearless, his probity withstood parliament. Paul Adams has given us a biography as thoroughly gripping as it is thoroughly researched. Inspirations floods from its pages." – Humphrey McQueen