BOOK REVIEWS
Miracle on Black Mountain – A History of the Australian National Botanic Gardens by Don Beer Book review by Neville Page, President, Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Associate Professor Don Beer taught history at the University of New England from 1964 to 1998. Upon retirement he moved to Canberra and became a member of the Friends of the Australian
Neville Page
National Botanic Gardens (ANBG), a Friends Council Member and Convenor of the gardens’ Volunteer Guides. He has written several books, including a history of Sir Allan Napier MacNab (1798–1862), a Canadian political leader. Don Beer is therefore well qualified to write a history of our very own ANBG. The ANBG was officially opened in October 1970 by Prime Minister John Gorton. But Don Beer’s book covers a much longer period than the past 50 years: the book dates to the very first days of Canberra, when Walter Burley Griffin’s winning plan for the National Capital in fact mentioned ‘botanical gardens’. This long span of history is one of the reasons Don Beer’s book makes fascinating reading. Many of the formative events impacting on the ANBG’s history occurred when it was part of the Parks and Gardens section of the Department of the Interior, and well before 1970. The book is written in six parts. The first part chronicles the so-called Foundation Document: the Dickson Report of 1935, followed by the Lindsay Pryor Years, 1944 to 1959. Lindsay Pryor was succeeded by his deputy, David Shoobridge and part two covers the Shoobridge years (1959 to 1975), including the ’golden years’ of 1971 to 1975. The Robert Boden years of 1979 to 1989 are comprehensively described in part four. Don Beer doesn’t shy away from the fact that over its history the gardens have experienced many ups and downs. Part three is entitled Conflict and Consolidation, 1976 to 1979 and describes differences of opinion on the role of the gardens, financial stringency, and involvement of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC).
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THE BOTANIC GARDENer | ISS 56 WINTER 2021
