Peter Cochrane (historian)

Dr Peter Cochrane (born 15 April 1950- ) is an Australian historian and writer. In 2007, his book "" shared the inaugural Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History with Les Carlyon's "The Great War". [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21938119-1702,00.html "The Australian", "Two books share PM's history prize", 20 June 2007] ]

Early life and career

Cochrane was born in Melbourne in 1950. He completed an honours degree at La Trobe University in 1974 and a doctorate at the University of Adelaide in 1978. After working for a couple of years in the Parliamentary Library of South Australia and as a tutor at the University of Adelaide, he published his first book "Industrialisation and dependence: Australia's road to economic development, 1870-1939" in 1980. [ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9334 National Library of Australia" "Papers of Peter Cochrane"] ]

Cochrane worked as a Lecturer in History at the University of Sydney between 1982 and 1996. He published "Simpson and his donkey: the making of a legend" which won a Fellowship of Australian Writers Award for Non-Fiction. [ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9334 National Library of Australia" "Papers of Peter Cochrane"] ] Tom Curran criticised Cochrane's version of the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick and his donkey in a 1996 article in "Quadrant". [Tom Curran "Quadrant" November 1996, Vol. 40 Issue 11, p22, 3p]

Later works

Cochrane published two books in 2001, a history of the National Library of Australia and "Australians at War" a companion book to an Australian Broadcasting Corporation series of the same name. [Peter Stanley "A Narrow, Neo-parochial History" "Australian Historical Studies" April 2003 Volume 34, Issue 121 page 163]

In 2004, Cochrane published a collection of photos from the First World War called "The Great War: 1916-1918". [ [http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2004/s1139596.htm ABC Landline "The Western Front 1916-1918" 27 June 2004] ] He published a book of photographs from the 1941 Siege of Tobruk in 2005. [ [http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=161181 ABC Shop] ]

Cochrane published "Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy" which told the story of the introduction of responsible government to New South Wales. It was funded by the New South Wales Government to mark the 150th anniversary of that event. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/colonial-ambition-foundations-of-australian-democracy/2006/12/15/1165685879181.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 "Sydney Morning Herald "Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy" December 15, 2006] ] "Colonial Ambition" shared the inaugural Prime Minister's Prize for History with Les Carlyon's "The Great War". [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21938119-1702,00.html "The Australian", "Two books share PM's history prize", 20 June 2007] ]

References

Persondata
NAME=Cochrane, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian historian
DATE OF BIRTH=15 April 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
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