Roland Perry, Author
Roland Perry has published 30 books in a range of genres including biography, politics, espionage, history (WW1 and WW2), sport and fiction. Professor Perry has specialised in history, and has written six bestsellers on World 1 and World War 11. He is the only author to have produced books on both the major battle zones of the Great War (1914-1918): the Western Front (Monash) and Eastern Front (The Australian Lighthorse). Perry has also written the most comprehensive work on Australia’s involvement in the Pacific War (1941-1945): The Fight for Australia. His other three books on war are: Bill the Bastard; Horrie; and Changi Brownlow, which was short-listed for the Australian Booksellers Industry Award for non-fiction (2010).
Céleste: The Parisian Courtesan Who Became a Countess and Bestselling Writer.
Courtesan, countess, bestselling author - the tempestuous true story of a woman far ahead of her time ... The true story of the Countess Céleste de Chabrillan is a rich and tempestuous tale of an extraordinary woman.
Born in the gutters of Paris in 1824, Céleste made her name as a dancer in the Parisian dance halls, where it is said she invented the can-can. However, it was as the city's most celebrated courtesan that the young Parisian found genuine fame and fortune. Strikingly beautiful and charismatic, her lovers included famous novelists, artists and composers, not least Georges Bizet, whom, many believe, based his free and fearless Carmen on Céleste. But when Céleste married the Count de Chabrillan, a prominent member of the French aristocracy, Parisian society was scandalised. And when the pair turned up in far off Australia....more
Roland Perry Books
Biographies have covered a variety of characters, including General Sir John Monash (Monash), Wilfred Burchett (The Exile), Keith Miller (Miller’s Luck), Peter Chitty (Changi Brownlow), Shane Warne (Bold Warnie); Mel Gibson (Mel Gibson, Actor, Director, Producer); and two members of most notorious Cambridge University ring of spies: the British Lord Rothschild (The Fifth Man), and the American Michael Whitney Straight (The Last of the Cold War Spies). His latest biography is the true story of the Countess Céleste de Chabrillan, a rich and tempestuous tale of an extraordinary French woman.
More About Professor Roland Perry
Perry began his writing career as a journalist on The Age Melbourne from 1969 to 1973. After five years in England making documentary films, he had his first book, a novel, Program for a Puppet, published in 1979. It was an international best-seller that was translated into eight languages.
Educated at Scotch College Melbourne, Perry has an Economics degree from Monash University (1972). His awards include: the Frederick Blackham Exhibition Prize in Journalism at Melbourne University (1969); the prestigious Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Award for non-fiction (2004) with Monash: the outsider who won a war; and Cricket Biography of the Year (2006) from the UK Cricket Society for Miller’s Luck, a biography of all-rounder, Keith Miller. In October 2011 Perry was made a Fellow of Monash University. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia ‘for service to literature as an author’ in June 2011. Monash University bestowed a Professorship on Roland Perry in October 2012. He is the University’s first Writer-in-Residence, lecturing PhDs and PhD aspirants on all aspects of writing, and Australian history.
A dab hand at espionage thrillers
His fiction works are few and far between, although Perry has established a name for himself as a dab hand at espionage thrillers. His first novel, Program for a Puppet, was an international bestseller. This was followed by Blood is a Stranger
- The Guardian
Great War Author Roland Perry...
Great War.Author Roland Perry brings to life the fascinating story of the man whom many have judged as the greatest-ever Australian. Monash: The Outsider Who Won A War draws on the subject's comprehensive letter and diary archive - one of the largest in Australia's history.
- Random House Books
Sir Donald Bradman...
Perry’s biography of Sir Donald Bradman, The Don, went to the top of the best-seller lists in Australia and had the most positive run of ‘notices’ of all his books in Australia and the UK
E. W. Swanton, Cricket Writer
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