With his `in-your-face¿ style and intellectual background, Gordon Bennett has become one of Australia¿s leading contemporary artists. He has garnered international critical acclaim for the complex ways in which his work engages with historical and contemporary issues of cultural and personal identity ¿ with a focus on the interaction between Australia¿s indigenous, colonial, and postcolonial identities. This visually stimulating volume presents a thorough analysis of Bennett¿s practices and complex body of work to date, as well as a never before published intimate and revealing conversation between the artist and his long term associate Bill Wright

James Gordon Bennett was born in 1841, a spoilt only son who took over as publisher of the New York Herald from his millionaire father. Bennett tirelessly supported pioneering fields of technology and sport, always with speed in mind. In 1899, fascinated by the new motor cars, he instigated the International Gordon Bennett Cup. The inaugural race took place in 1900 between Paris and Lyon. Three countries entered, but this was just the beginning of a massive phenomenon that, thanks to Bennett, saw spectators grow from less than a hundred to eighty-thousand. The widespread anti-car sentiment, endless bureaucracy, speed limits, safety and design challenges were all obstacles to overcome. Each Gordon Bennett Cup Race is documented here with an account of the drivers, the cars, the courses and the thrilling highs and lows of the events. The 1903 Cup, which was held in Ireland, was crucial since for the very first time a closed-circuit course was used. It was also the first international race in the British Isles. His dedicated promotion of early motor-car racing gave a boost to the global auto-industry and was a firm basis to the international racing that is still a thrilling part of our lives over 100 years later.

The 1866 transatlantic yacht race was a match that saw three yachts battle their way across the Atlantic in the dead of winter in pursuit of a $90,000 prize. Six men died in the brutal and close-fought contest, and the event changed the perception of yachting from a slightly effete gentlemen's pursuit into something altogether more rugged and adventurous. The race also symbolized the beginning of America's 'gilded age', with its associated obscene wealth and largesse (the $90,000 prize put up by the three contestants is about $15 million in today's money), as well as the thawing of relations between the US and UK. The narrative focuses on the victorious yacht Henrietta and her owner James Gordon Bennett. Bennett was the son of the multimillionaire proprietor of the New York Herald, and a notorious playboy. His infamous stunts included driving his carriage through the streets of New York naked, tipping a railway porter $30,000, and turning up at his own engagement party blind drunk and mistaking the fire for a urinal, which led to the coining of the phrase 'Gordon Bennett!'. However, Bennett was also a serious yachtsman and had served with distinction during the civil war aboard Henrietta, and he was the only owner to be aboard his own boat during the race. Other characters include Bennett's captain Samuel Samuels (legendary clipper skipper, ex-convict and occasional vaudeville actor), financier Leonard Jerome, aboard Henrietta as race invigilator (he also happened to be grandfather to Winston Churchill) and Stephen Fisk, a journalist so desperate to cover the race that he evaded a summons to appear as a witness in court and instead smuggled himself aboard Henrietta in a crate of champagne. Using the framework of the race to discuss the various historical themes, there's ample drama, and the diverse and eccentric range of characters ensure that this is a book laced with plenty of human interest, scandal and adventure.

Includes more than 30 maps, plans and illustrations The fall of Singapore, the “Gibraltar of the East”, struck by the Imperial Japanese troops during the lightning Malaya campaign of 1942 was a great shock to the Allied cause during the Second World War. No less a person than Prime Minister Winston Churchill assessed it as the “worst disaster” and the “largest capitulation” in British military history. 85,000 British, Indian and Australian troops were marched into the captivity with 50,000 others who had been captured already in the campaign, their fate was to be a barbaric fate in the hands of the Japanese. Their commanders were to be made scapegoats and pilloried for not stopping the disaster, but the true blame in large part lies elsewhere... Australian General Henry Gordon Bennett’s account of the disaster is a gripping defence of his part in the campaign. Sent troops who were ill-equipped, with no experience, and little proper training; the Singapore command attempted to defend their position. Impregnable from seaborne assault, the walls, bastions and fixed positions were no help against the inland advance of the Japanese and with few antiquated fighters to protect them against the heavy air bombardment the Gordon Bennett and his men struggled against the odds. Starved of reinforcements, withheld in Australia and Great Britain, the men and their commanders had to do the best with what they had. In this fascinating book it would seem like the island fortress was doomed from the start in spite of the misguided high hopes of the high command.

Major-General Gordon Bennett played a decisive role in the defense of Malaya and Singapore in World War II. A colorful character, known to sport a straw hat with a rainbow scarf tied around it, his officers found him at times abrasive and cocky, but he was also known as an outstanding commander. He is, however, best remembered for his escape by boat from Singapore in the dying days of the Japanese invasion, which led to the imprisonment of 15,000 Australian servicemen. Bennett's decision to leave his men to their fate is one of the most controversial episodes in the fall of the island. In this vivid and comprehensive history of the 8th Division and its stoic force of fighting men, Roger Maynard investigates their conflicted leader, whose reputation as an outstanding soldier was shattered by war's end. He also examines Bennett's legacy through the prism of today's military standards to establish whether he was, indeed, a hero or deserter.Though he was exonerated by Prime Minister John Curtin on his return to Australia, 8th Division's commander was never forgiven by the military's top brass for what many viewed as a clear case of desertion. While Bennett alone cannot be blamed for the defeat - there were many other factors, including Britain's military failings in both tactics and defense - he was and remains a ready scapegoat.