An Historian's Life: Max Crawford and the Politics of Academic Freedom

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Max Crawford was one of Australia's pre-eminent historians. As both a participant in and observer of many decisive episodes of the era; Europe in the midst of the Depression, America and Russia at the height of World War II, post-war reconstruction and the Cold War in Australia, Crawford was regarded as a radical; and outspoken defender of intellectual autonomy. This biography considers Crawford as an historian and a public intellectual. It relates his experiences as a student at Sydney and Oxford, a struggling teacher during the Depression, as the head of the History School at the University of Melbourne, a diplomat in wartime Russia, and a Cold War victim and accuser. The study of Crawford's life provides insight into one man's experience in the midst of political turmoil and the limits of intellectual autonomy on Australian campuses, as well as the suspicion of liberal intellectuals in Australian public life, the repression of academic radicals and ASIO's attempts to stifle dissident voices. Spanning his life (1906 -1991), Crawford's political and intellectual journey suggests the changing nature of Australian progressive liberalism and the precarious state of academic freedom.

Author Bio

Fay Anderson is a lecturer at the Australian Centre in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne. She was educated at La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne. After graduating, Fay lived in Paris and Jerusalem for several years. Fay's PhD thesis was published in 2005 by Melbourne University Publishing and entitled, An Historian's Life- Max Crawford and the Politics of Academic Freedom. Richard Trembath teaches history at the University of Melbourne. He has co-authored All Care and Responsibility, a history of the nursing profession in Victoria, and in 2005 published A Different Sort of War about the Australian experience of the Korean War. In 2008, Richard co-authored Divine Discontent, a new history of the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Much of Richard's work has involved interviews and oral history. Currently he is researching the story of Australia's indigenous soldiers.