Back to Books · C 4

Edit position

Last set 2 weeks, 5 days ago. Manual moves override automatic placement until the next shelfie/spine match.

Don Dunstan's cookbook

Diagnose this book

Don Dunstan's cookbook

by Don Dunstan

No description yet.

Accession 9780727002259 ISBN 9780727002259 Publisher Rigby

Book Images

Reference and live side by side Hover to see live images

Reference

Live

No live

CONNECTIONS

No connections

State

on_shelf: True
position_updated_at: 2026-05-05 17:12
orientation: vertical

Details

Physical

binding_type: Hard Back
dimensions: none captured
spine_text: Don Dunstan's Cookbook RIGBY

LOCATION HISTORY

C 4 Current vertical

2 months ago

C 3 vertical

3 months, 3 weeks ago

C 3 vertical

5 months, 2 weeks ago

C 2 vertical

5 months, 2 weeks ago

C 3 vertical

5 months, 2 weeks ago

C 2 vertical

5 months, 2 weeks ago

C 3 vertical

5 months, 2 weeks ago

C 2 vertical

5 months, 2 weeks ago

Book Location

Updated 2 weeks, 5 days ago

Book Images

Reference and live side by side Hover to see live images

Reference

Live

No live

Vernon snapshot

Frozen copy of Vernon's record from the last sync. Fields tagged → flow back into the Pulse record.

Never synced from Vernon

Identity

name→ title

Don Dunstan's cookbook

vernon_id

—

accession_no→ accession_number

—

vernon_slug

—

Drives Pulse state

curr_loc_status→ on_shelf

—

location_name

—

location_reason

—

isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)

—

Descriptive

production_date

—

object_type

—

object_status

—

brief_description

—

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)

—

tags→ tags

—

subject_people

—

subject_objects

—

Topics and Themes

1. **Australian Food Culture & Culinary History**
Don Dunstan's Cookbook is a product of 1970s Australia, capturing the flavours, ingredients, and kitchen sensibilities of its era. Though Dunstan himself later called it "a period piece," its recipes and commentary remain a snapshot of evolving Australian home cooking and dining culture.

Connect to books about: Australian cuisine, food history, mid-century home cooking, the rise of multicultural food in Australia.

---

2. **Politicians as Public Intellectuals & Cultural Figures**
Dunstan was not just a premier but a man who engaged publicly with food, theatre, the arts, and fashion — using the cookbook as a vehicle for cultural expression beyond politics. His voice in the book is personal and opinionated, blurring the line between statesman and public intellectual.

Connect to books about: politician memoirs, celebrity authorship, public intellectuals, the politics of culture.

---

3. **Food as Social & Political Statement**
Dunstan's engagement with food was inseparable from his progressive politics. His interest in diverse cuisines reflected his broader legislative push for multiculturalism, civil rights, and social reform in South Australia in the 1970s.

Connect to books about: food politics, multiculturalism and identity, the politics of the dinner table, social reform movements.

---

4. **South Australian History & Identity**
The book is deeply tied to a particular time and place — South Australia under Dunstan's premiership (1967–1979), a period of significant social and cultural transformation. It reflects the unique character and identity of that state during a progressive political era.

Connect to books about: South Australian history, Australian state politics, regional identity, the Dunstan era.

---

5. **Multiculturalism & Culinary Diversity**
Dunstan championed multicultural policies in government, and this is reflected in his cookbook's embrace of diverse culinary traditions. The recipes likely draw on international influences, challenging the meat-and-three-veg conservatism of mainstream Australian cooking at the time.

Connect to books about: multicultural Australia, migration and food, cross-cultural cuisine, diaspora food traditions.

---

6. **Celebrity & Personality Cookbooks**
This book belongs to a tradition of cookbooks authored by well-known public figures — where the author's fame, personality, and worldview are as central as the recipes themselves. The book's value lies as much in Dunstan's voice and commentary as in its culinary content.

Connect to books about: celebrity cookbooks, food writing and memoir, cookbooks as autobiography, food journalism.

---

7. **Progressive Politics & Social Reform in Australia**
Dunstan is remembered as one of Australia's most reforming premiers — abolishing the death penalty, advancing Indigenous rights, legalising homosexuality, and championing the arts. The cookbook sits alongside this legacy as an expression of his broader vision for a more open, cultured society.

Connect to books about: Australian Labor politics, civil rights reform, progressive governance, social liberalism.

---

8. **Food, Identity & Personal Expression**
The cookbook functions as a form of self-expression — a public figure revealing something intimate and personal through the medium of food. The recipes Dunstan collected, tested, and invented reflect his tastes, travels, and values, making the book a kind of edible autobiography.

Connect to books about: food memoirs, cooking and identity, personal essay and food writing, autobiography through objects.

Don Dunstan's cookbook

Book Images

TAGS

CONNECTIONS

State

Details

LOCATION HISTORY

Book Location

Book Images

Vernon snapshot

Topics and Themes