This book tells the story of four men – L. F. Giblin, J. B. Brigden, D. B. Copland and Roland Wilson – who, in 1920s Tasmania, formed a personal and intellectual bond that was to prove a pivot of economic thought, policy-making and institution-building in mid-century Australia.

The book seeks to supply in words the group photograph that, sadly, seems not to exist. In our book, as in the hypothetical wished-for photograph, L. F. Giblin stands firmly at the centre, glaring at the observer, the focus of our attention, implicitly commanding the following of the others. Copland stands loyally, close by his right hand; Brigden is at his left, a bit further away, as if seeking a little space; and Wilson stands between Brigden and Giblin, directly contemplating the onlooker with a cool, sceptical expression.

Our photograph does not seek to glamorise or sentimentalise: it allows a stark light to fall on any unattractive surface. But it does allow the subjects to arrange themselves, so that they reveal what they chose, even if they did not realise they were revealing it.

The photograph has an arresting background; one that explains why it has been taken at all. For the story told here is larger than that of the four lives. It is the story of the advent of the economist in Australian public life. A more extensive telling of this tale would involve others, including E. O. G. Shann, L. G. Melville and H. C. Coombs. But these persons either leave early, or join late. It is our four who lead the advance, endure reversals, and finally consolidate the position.

This arrival of the economist was a pregnant development in Australian history. It has been deplored, celebrated and mythified. But less often understood. It stands outside the three foci of Australian history-writing: material history (exploration, technology, and business), political history and social history (overwhelmingly, labour history) and cultural history. Our story cuts across all of these – labour history especially – but has at its core a report of intellectual achievements, which were strong enough to anticipate and stimulate the leading currents in economic thinking across the world.

We are, then, providing a piece of Australian intellectual history that has not been properly valued. In doing this we are paying a tribute to one of the central themes of Giblin and his platoon: that Australia was more than it seemed, to its inhabitants and foreigners alike. And, if this truth were realised, could be still more than it was.

William Coleman

Selwyn Cornish

Alf Hagger