Allan Jamieson

40 Degrees South Publishing

RRP $45.00 HB 316 pp

The History of the Burnie Paper Mill, 1936 - 2010

For more than half a century The Pulp provided Burnie with security, a benevolent sustenance and an identity, yet Allan Jamieson does not gild the lily - here is the robust, critical, forensically-detailed history that the pulp and paper mill demands. He writes beautifully, with a fine literary sense of the dramatic phrase, and he is fearless and forthright.

Despite the author’s command of detail, he does not allow the trees to overwhelm the forest (if I may be forgiven for such a metaphor). His focus, he tell us, is on people. Allan stakes his territory, presents his evidence and makes his case - his impressive case - for which even those who find issue to take with him must, if they are to be fair, dip their lids.

Allan sees the bigger picture, and places his account within it. The story is much more than Burnie’s story - it links to tides and currents flowing through the entire country; indeed, through the entire world. He has some particularly pithy and insightful things to say about the decline and fall of Australian manufacturing in the 1970’s, ‘80’s and ‘90’s, a development that should send shivers down the spines of thoughtful Australians.
And now, of course, the mill too, is gone.

Pete Hay - Former Reader in Geography and Environmental Studies. University of Tasmania