JV Barry: A Life

This is the history of John Vincent Barry: judge, historian, criminologist, civil libertarian and public intellectual before his time.

Drawing on an archive of more than 10,000 letters as well as recent interviews with those who knew him, Mark Finnane looks at Barry in the cultural, political and intellectual milieu of inter- and post-war Australia, and describes Barry’s considerable role in the creation of a discourse of justice and human rights in Australia.

The book approaches under-documented domains of Australian life such as crime and the courts, divorce, the building of institutions, the conduct and consequences of public enquiries, enriching our understanding of the constraints faced by earlier generations and the possibilities opened up by their choices.