The Education of Young Donald Trilogy: Including Confessions of a New Boy and Portrait of an Optimist

A compelling insight into the making of one of Australia’s foremost public intellectuals. A classic of Australian literature, The Education of Young Donald Trilogy combines Donald Horne’s three autobiographies—The Education of Young Donald (1967), Confessions of a New Boy (1985) and Portrait of an Optimist (1988)—in one volume. With a keen intellect, sharp wit, and dry humour, Horne vividly describes his formative years as he moves between different millieux, from an idyllic rural childhood to the excitement of university, experience as a Second World War serviceman, life in post-war England, and the rough and tumble world of old-school journalism. With a foreword by novelist Tracy Sorensen and a new introduction by Julia Horne and Nick Horne, The Education of Young Donald Trilogy is a revealing and instructive tale from the author of The Lucky Country and an absorbing account of Australian social and intellectual life from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Julia Horne is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Sydney and university historian. She has published widely on Australian cultural and social history. Nick Horne is a Sydney taxi driver and editor of Donald Horne: Selected Writings (2017). Donald Horne (1921–2005) was an Australian writer. He worked in journalism, starting as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and going on to edit the intellectual periodical The Observer and The Bulletin. He was an academic in the school of political science at the UNSW from 1973-1986. He wrote two dozen books including The Lucky Country, The Story of the Australian People, Death of the Lucky Country, The Great Museum, and 10 steps to a more tolerant Australia.