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John wrote, refined and combined the essays and poems in this collection over several years, crafting into them his thoughts on consciousness, life, history, the universe, everything. They reflect his lifelong interest in the changing nature of humans throughout time.
It was a subject John spent his life researching, as a criminal barrister, a writer, a father, a mentor, a friend and a truly human human being.
Here he lays out and encapsulates his findings for all to read.
John Bryson was a poet, storyteller, rally-car driver, high-end racing sailor and rower, nature lover and a practising criminal barrister through to his middle years. A fighter for justice and the fair go.
A Brief History of Thought - Unfinished is his last work, his final case. In it, he puts the case for the power of philosophy and the Arts, through history. To overturn the dead hand of conservatism and greed. It is his final cross-examination, his ultimate summing up.
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Paperback Published October 2023 181 pages
"Readers of John Bryson’s masterpiece, Evil Angels, will know that he was attuned to the microscopic and the cosmic, able to see how our lives play out against the backdrop of deep time. This posthumously published book takes on the elusive subject of consciousness through a series of interlinked essays focusing on its evolutionary drivers, both biological and cultural. Of particular interest for him is the way traditional religions stymied the expansion of human consciousness by resisting change, and how the arts defied this sclerosis. While the historical sweep of this collection is vast, Bryson’s precise use of language and ability to convey complex ideas in honed, clear prose makes him a sure guide through this daunting terrain. A selection of his poetry provides a fitting and moving conclusion: “If the purpose of a life/ is to provide generation, the duty’s done.” - SMH Non Fiction Pick of the Week