Power Without Glory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Power Without Glory
Image:Power without glory.jpg
Author Frank Hardy
Country Australia
Language English
Genre(s) Novel, Thriller
Publisher Random House
Released 1950
Pages 660
ISBN ISBN 0-09-184206-9

Power Without Glory is a 1950 novel written by Australian writer and Communist Frank Hardy. The work was originally self-published, and later adapted into a mini-series by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (1976).

The novel was a fictionalised version of the life of Melbourne business man John Wren, set in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Carringbush (based on the actual suburb Collingwood). Wren was a right-wing power broker in the Australian Labor Party. In the novel, the character based on Wren, "John West", is involved in criminal activities related to gambling and political machinations.

In 1951, Hardy was tried for criminal libel because West's wife was depicted as having an affair in the novel. The case became high-profile; however Hardy was acquitted on the grounds that the work was fictional.