Biography

Speculating about a life

Item: The Legacy of Douglas Grant
Author: Noah Riseman

Reimagining Douglas Grant

by Noah Riseman •

March 2021, no. 429

The Legacy of Douglas Grant by John Ramsland

Brolga Publishing, $26.95 pb, 370 pp

Biography

Speculating about a life

Reimagining Douglas Grant

by Noah Riseman •

March 2021, no. 429

Soldier. Draftsman. Massacre survivor. Prisoner of war. Veteran. Son. Brother. Uncle. RSL Secretary. Indigenous Man. Activist. Black Scotsman. Celebrity. These are just some of the words used to describe Douglas Grant, an individual who embodied the contradictions of assimilation and the challenges facing Aboriginal people in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Famous during his lifetime, Grant’s reputation has faded since the 1950s but in recent years has attracted the attention of Indigenous Australians and historians of World War I.

Noah Riseman

Noah Riseman is Professor of History at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. He specialises in LGBTI, Indigenous, and gender history and has authored or co-authored several books about marginalised groups in the Australian military. His most recent co-authored books are: Pride in Defence: The Australian military and LGBTI service since 1945 (Melbourne University Press, forthcoming November 2020); Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War: The politics, experiences and legacies of war in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Cambridge University Press, 2019); Serving in Silence? Australian LGBT servicemen and women (NewSouth Publishing, 2018); and Defending Country: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service since 1945 (UQP, 2016).