The battle to save Tasmania’s Franklin River from being dammed started off as a small state issue and morphed into a national controversy. The Tasmanian Wilderness Society, a small volunteer-based organisation, was solely responsible for inserting the Franklin River into national consciousness. The River Runs Free is Geoff Law’s memoir of his early years of activism, trying to save the river. It’s a fabulous story of the power of idealism and commitment against a seemingly unstoppable and indifferent conservative state government, vested logging and hydro-electric energy interests, and even the Tasmanian police. The story just about tells itself and has all the crucial elements of melodrama, as well as the relief of a happy ending, more or less, though Tasmania’s wilderness areas remain under threat today. Juxtaposed with Law’s story of his work within TWS is his wilderness experiences hiking and rafting in Tasmania and these inform his passion about protecting it from destruction. This style works well because he describes the beauty of these remote places and it justifies to the reader his passion to save them while getting the reader on-side too. This story would appeal to conservationists and students of Australian political history, as well as those who like a fast-paced read. It’s a well-structured and well-written book.

Allison Kingscote is a librarian at the Mitchell Library in NSW

Tags: geoff law