A People's Counsel

'Where no counsel is, the people fall.' (Proverbs) Entertaining and instructive, evocative and even-handed, crammed with novel details yet always conveying the formidable development of this monolithic institution, A People's Counsel is calculated to augment popular curiosity about Victoria's dominant political institution far beyond the parliamentary precinct itself. It will be essential reading parliamentarians and journalists, and will edify secondary and tertiary students accustomed to fusty and respectful parliamentary histories. Ray Wright has broken new ground by identifying the critical insider/outsider link and by exploiting it with panache. Intimate knowledge of a unique place and a sure grasp of its changing contextual setting is an unusual combination; it is complemented by his appreciation of the needs and values of the institution, and an understanding of the groups and individuals that have given it so much of its colour, purpose, pride and vulnerability.