Author(s): Graeme; Murphy, Kate Davison

Australiana

From its beginnings Monash has been a 'university in a hurry'. Born on the suburban fringe of Melbourne, it has reached outwards rather than gazed inwards. Over its five decades it has embraced the challenges of the age of sputnik, become a hotbed of student radicalism, followed by an equally radical turn to market capitalism, to become today Australias largest and most international university. Thousands of students rode the escalators in the Menzies Building to stellar careers, among them politicians Peter Costello and Simon Crean, journalists Michelle Grattan and Jon Faine, philosopher Peter Singer, writers Don Watson and David Williamson. The Monash story demonstrates how universities have transformed Australia since the 1960s. Based on extensive interviews with staff and students and heavily illustrated, this is a warts and all history of a great Australian institution.