Life So Full of Promise: Ross McMullin Author Talk

Ross McMullin is a renowned biographer and storyteller, and an entertaining speaker.

His multi-biography Farewell, Dear Peoplewas awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History, and in his sequel, Life So Full of Promise, Ross has again combined prodigious research and narrative flair in a collection of interwoven family stories about forgotten Australians who had radiant potential.

The rich cast of characters in Life So Full of Promise includes a popular doctor, a brilliant cricketer, and an exceptionally talented barrister who was a potential prime minister.

With their families and friends also conspicuous in the stories, Life So Full of Promise is a revealing window into this defining era for Australia. It illuminates what the war was like at home and at the sharp end. Life So Full of Promise emulates Farewell, Dear People in providing insights into the experiences of Australians before, during and after the war, whether they were combatants or civilians, or soldiers’ wives or parents.

Barry Jones reviewed the book in The Sydney Morning Herald: “His scholarship is impeccable, he writes like an angel … and his narrative gift is Blaineyesque.” Michael McKernan also reviewed it: “Readers will appreciate the prodigious research [and] will marvel at McMullin’s skill as a writer … Life So Full of Promise is Australian history at its very best.”

Life So Full of Promise has been shortlisted for the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award.