Ross McMullin (born 1952) is an Australian historian who has written a number of books on political and social history, as well as several biographies. McMullin was educated at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, where he wrote his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

thesis on the 1913 federal election and his doctoral thesis on the cartoonist

Will Dyson William Henry Dyson (3 September 1880 – 21 January 1938) was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist. In 1931 he was regarded as "one of the world's foremost black and white artists", and in 1980, "Australia's greatest cartoonist" ...

. He later wrote a biography of Dyson, ''Will Dyson: Australia's Radical Genius'', that was shortlisted for the 2007

National Biography Award The National Biography Award, established in Australia in 1996, is awarded for the best published work of biographical or autobiographical writing by an Australian. It aims "to encourage the highest standards of writing biography and autobiography ...

, and was one of three books to be cited as "highly commended" by the judging panel. McMullin has written several entries in the '' Australian Dictionary of Biography''. He was commissioned to write the official history of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

to coincide with the 100th anniversary of its founding. It was published in 1991 as ''The Light on the Hill'', with the title taken from

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

's speech of the same name. He later published ''So Monstrous a Travesty'', a book about the Watson Government, to coincide with its 100th anniversary in 2004. In 2002, McMullin published ''Pompey Elliott'', a biography of the First World War general Harold Edward Elliott. It won the Melbourne University Press Award for Literature and the

Fellowship of Australian Writers The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers together and promoting their interests. The organisation played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Society of Authors in ...

Christina Stead Award for Biography. In 2018, he published a second book on Elliott, titled ''Pompey Elliott at War'', which focused on his speeches and writing during the war. McMullin's book ''Farewell, Dear People'' – a collection of World War I biographies – won the 2013

Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History The Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History was created by the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard following the Australian History Summit held in Canberra on 17 August 2006. The Summit looked at how the Australian government could s ...

, including prize money of $75,000. In 2016, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' reported that Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

had personally overruled the judging panel (which had chosen another book) to award the prize to McMullin.

Selected works

* ''The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991'' (1991) * ''Pompey Elliott'' (2002) * ''So Monstrous a Travesty: Chris Watson and the World's First National Labour Government'' (2004) * ''Will Dyson: Australia's Radical Genius'' (2006) * ''Farewell, Dear People: Biographies of Australia's Lost Generation'' (2013) * ''Pompey Elliott At War: In His Own Words'' (2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McMullin, Ross 1952 births Australian historians University of Melbourne alumni Australian biographers Living people