AustLit

'Elizabeth Morrison's biography of David Syme makes excellent use of limited historical sources to show us the man behind the Age in the nineteenth century. Never extrapolating too far, Morrison has written an engaging history that explores Syme's life before the Age, and how those experiences impacted the way he ran the newspaper. Syme's strict editorial control over the Age for over thirty years is his public legacy. His contribution to Victorian politics through the editorial stance of the paper, and his own direct intervention in promoting particular candidates, was extensive. He also made a significant contribution to the newspaper industry, undermining monopolies on telegraph news from overseas, challenging the dominance of the Argus, and experimenting with different publications to meet the needs and interests of the reading public. What Morrison has uncovered in this biography is the influence.' (Introduction)