Books by Alan

A fascinating and, until now, unknown story of a ship and her captain. The recent discovery of her wreck and salvage of her guns has propelled the ship into the public limelight. A highly significant story within the wider naval history of the 18th-century

Born William Frederick Allan in 1860, Leo knocked about in his early years. As he wrote of himself, "...it was not until his thirtieth year, in 1890, when the progressed Jupiter arrived at the place of the radical Sun, that the effect of the radical Asc. conjunct Saturn was removed and a period of prosperity commenced, for in that year the Astrologer's Magazine (now Modern Astrology) was commenced, and all other pursuits were put on one side in order to take up the study of Astrology as a life work. Thenceforward all other progressed positions, no matter how severe or evil, must be moderated by this benefic progress of Jupiter over the Sun, trine Moon; for to considerably accentuate this benefic influence, Jupiter at the same time by progression reaches the parallel of the Sun at birth, a position which will remain in force for a great many years." (Progressed Horoscope, pgs. 228-9) Among other duties, Alan Leo and his associates had a lively mail-order chart business, and wrote and published many books and articles. He died in 1917. Of his seven major books, Charles Carter famously said, "They were not well put together but one could find a very great deal of information in them if one knew where to look." This is one of the best books on progressions ever written. Look carefully and you will find a great many things in it.

The Bandar-Log: A Labor Story of the 1950s is a fictionalised recreation of the great Labor split of the 1950s. This schism in Labor's ranks began in October 1954 when its erratic federal party leader Dr H.V. ("Doc") Evatt denounced the perceived influence wielded over the party by the anti-communist Catholic activist B.A. ("Bob") Santamaria. The resulting donnybrook involved personality clashes as well as ideological conflict. The messy saga featured a diverse array of participants including Catholic churchmen, trade union bosses, state premiers, state and federal Labor politicians and assorted commentators and journalists. The characters appearing in The Bandar-Log mirror, with varying degrees of faithfulness, these actual participants in the Labor split. - Ross Fitzgerald and Stephen Holt, from the Introduction