Martin Flanagan Books

The narrative centers on Thomas Wentworth Wills, a pivotal figure in Australian sports history who transformed colonial cricket and laid the groundwork for Australian football. Raised among the Djabwurring people, his return from England in 1856 marked a significant shift in the sporting landscape. Wills also coached the first Aboriginal cricket team to tour England in 1866, despite the backdrop of conflict between settlers and Indigenous Australians. His life, marked by both achievement and neglect, reflects a poignant Australian tragedy intertwined with a lasting legacy.

A prison diary, a story of brotherly love, a journey of redemption, Martin Flanagan’ s compelling book about his boarding school days goes inside an experience many have had but few have talked about. In 1966, at the age of 10, Martin Flanagan was sent to a Catholic boarding school in north-west Tasmania. Of the 12 priests on the staff, three have since gone to prison for sexual crimes committed against boys in their care. In 2018 and 2019, a series of disclosures about the school appeared on the ABC Tasmania website. Then came the Pell case. What followed was a frenzy of opinions, none of which represented Flanagan’ s view. The Empty Honour Board is part memoir, a reflection on truth and memory, and what is lost in rushing to judgement. Flanagan’ s school abounds in memorable characters. There’ s a kid who escapes and gets as far as Surfers Paradise, and two boys who hold a competition during evening chapel to see who can confess more times. A wild boy receives a ‘ Bradmanesque’ 234 strokes of the cane in one year.