Imaginative. Precise. Easy to read. Informative. Insightful. All these are apt descriptions of this book. Yet, they do not do it justice. It is work which constitutes a major contribution to scholarship and policy-making. It does so by inviting, no, by forcing, mainstream scholars and policy-makers to re-think their starting positions This is a book which should be read by all of us who are students of, and activists in, capitallabour relations. We will profit in the best way: we will be enriched intellectually and, perhaps, inspired to do better.
Harry Glasbeek, York University, Canada
"[ This work] by Quinlan in many respects constitutes an outstanding resource for coming to grips with the detail of the origins and development of Australian labour law specifically."
John Howe, University of Melbourne and Richard Mitchell, Monash University
"Michael Quinlan has produced a valuable contribution to Australian labour history, distinguished by originality and by assiduous research. It deserves to be widely read and to inspire future work of equivalent scope and methodological range."
Sean Scalmer, University of Melbourne
