A new Melbourne committee aims to correct this omission. A year or so ago the Australian International Brigade (Spanish Civil War) Memorial Committee was formed in Melbourne committed to honouring the memory of these volunteers who left Australia to support the defence of the Spanish Republic against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. The Committee has a broad membership and includes Jim Rebbechi, the nephew of Kevin who died serving in Spain.
The quality of Niall’s writing is evident in An Accidental Career, though easily unnoticed. It lies in the clarity of her thought, her exact choice of words, the alternation of anecdote and reflection and the self-effacement that creates a direct link between the reader and the work itself. Her writing has the rare gift of simplicity. The precision of the title is characteristic of the book as a whole. By Andrew Hamilton