Books by James Kirby

Richard Pratt was one of Australia's most successful, formidable and charismatic businessmen. Yet for all this he was unfailingly human, his life playing out like a drama even after the final act. Self-made billionaire, family man, generous philanthropist, patron of the arts and Carlton Football Club saviour were just a few of Pratt's many guises, and in this compelling biography the truth behind the headlines is revealed. The twists and turns of Pratt's life are chronicled with candour -- from humble beginnings in Poland to the heights of global business success tainted by the humiliating price-fixing scandal that earned Visy the largest corporate fine in Australia's history. Pratt's many achievements and controversies polarised public opinion but made him one of Australia's most enigmatic public figures. Though his legacy is debatable, no-one can deny that Richard Pratt was ... one out of the box.

Although this work takes proper notice of its origins in John Wesley's 18th-century movement in England, it assumes that in America the people called Methodists developed in distinctive fashion.