Fred Hollows

This book was first published in 1991, claiming it 'replenishes the sense of what it possible'. Three decades on, it still does. This edition shows what is possible - problems encountered and overcome, breakthroughs big and small, and the spread of Fred Hollows' work across the globe with more and more people getting modern eye care.

The book's heart remains the same: the life, work and ideas of Fred Hollows.

Fred was no saint. He didn't pretend to be. He was as rough a diamond as they come. Author Tom Keneally called him 'the wild colonial boy of Australian surgery'.

'Every eye is an eye' as Fred put it. Four out of five people who are blind don't need to be - but millions of people are blind simply because they don't have access to treatment. It's daunting, but no excuse for inaction or failure. Fred knew what tools were needed. Look, talk, listen, think. Act.

Today, The Foundation bearing Fred Hollows' name is continuing his dream to end avoidable blindness.

'A story to lift the spirits ... it is possible to change the world' - Judith Wright, Sun Herald

'... an all-action drama' - Kirsty Cameron, Australian

'... like listening to him holding forth in the pub' - John Carmody, Australian

'In parts this is a shocking book' - Peter Wilmoth, Age