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Oppy

The Life of Sir Hubert Opperman
By Daniel Oakman
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In Oppy by Daniel Oakman, the book delves into the life of Sir Hubert Opperman, a celebrated Australian endurance cyclist and politician. It chronicles his remarkable achievements both on the international cycling stage and in his significant political career. It paints a vivid portrait of determination and resilience, capturing how Oppy's passion and persistence made him a national hero.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you are fascinated by inspiring stories of endurance and resilience. It chronicles the life of a pioneering Australian cyclist and adventurer, capturing his spirit, determination, and the era he lived in with vivid detail. Enthusiasts of historical sporting achievements and personal triumph might find this biography particularly captivating.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This meticulously researched biography gives readers a thrilling insight into the brutal world of professional cycling and an intimate portrait of an extraordinary Australian.

Hubert 'Oppy' Opperman was a sporting icon, a cycling phenomenon whose epic feats of endurance captivated the cycling world. For over two decades, he dominated almost every race he entered and shattered record after record in Australia and Great Britain. In 1928, he led the first Australasian team to ever contest the Tour de France.

But Oppy was more than just a champion. During the Great Depression, a time of painful economic and social change, he became a transcendent symbol of Australian fortitude. He became a household name, a legend—as popular as the cricketer Don Bradman and the racehorse Phar Lap.

Until now, Oppy has never been the subject of a complete biography. By peeling away decades of mythology, Daniel Oakman tells Opperman's story like never before. As well as vividly retelling his sporting triumphs, Oppy is the first book to consider the legacy of Opperman's post-cycling career. It explores the emotional pain of his private life, the controversies that dogged his seventeen-year political career, including his term as Minister of Immigration in the Menzies Government, and the remarkable and far-reaching changes he helped bring to Australian immigration policy.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781925556247

Publisher: Melbourne Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 June 2018

Country: Australia

Imprint: Melbourne Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 151.0mm

Height: 232.0mm

Weight: 590g

Pages: 368

Collections

Biography & Memoir Cycling Daniel Oakman Non-Fiction Penguin Books Sports Sports Biographies

About the Author

Daniel Oakman, a writer and historian, comes from Melbourne. After a brief sojourn as a public servant in the mid-1990s, he completed his PhD at the Australian National University before a fifteen-year career as a senior curator at the National Museum of Australia. In 2005, his ground-breaking history of Australia and the Colombo Plan, Facing Asia (published by Pandanus Books), was shortlisted for the NSW History Awards. With Melbourne Books he has published Oppy (2018), an acclaimed biography of the sporting icon and politician Hubert Opperman, and Wild Ride (2020), an immersive exploration of how the bicycle has long shaped understandings of the Australian continent and its people. Daniel's other writing has appeared in diverse publications, including Mountain Biking Australia, VeloNews, Australian Historical Studies, The Big Issue and Meanjin. He lives in Canberra with his partner Cecilie and a dog called Gilbert. Fire in the Head is his first novel.

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