James Curran teaches history at Sydney University and is a Research Associate at the US Studies Centre. He is the author of Curtin's Empire, The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Defining the National Image--shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the NSW Premier's History Prize--and, with Stuart Ward, The Unknown Nation: Australia After Empire, shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Australian History Prize. He is a Fulbright Scholar and in 2013 was the Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin.