Bakers Lane Books acquires McLean’s nonfiction

Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to The Town Like No Other by Robert McLean.

The Town Like No Other tells the story of Broken Hill, a ‘world-class mining centre that delivered record incomes and productivity, but also a thriving community where unions, managers and miners forged pragmatic partnerships,’ said the publisher. ‘At the same time, artists, migrants, educators and conservationists created a cultural identity that was fiercely local yet nationally influential, shaping the way the town saw itself and how it was seen from afar.’

McLean is a director emeritus of McKinsey and Company and vice co-chairman of the Asia Pacific of the Nature Conservancy. He is the author of Bulletproof Problem Solving (with Charles Conn, Wiley, 2019) and The Imperfectionists (with Charles Conn, Wiley, 2023). He was a Fulbright Scholar to the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and, in 2010, became a member of the Order of Australia.

He said, ‘I grew up and worked in Broken Hill and have maintained a keen interest in the area throughout my adult life. In The Town Like No Other, I weave memoir with social history to tell the story of Broken Hill during its “magic years”, 1950–1970. Whether you have lived in Broken Hill, visited the city as a tourist, or know someone from there, this book will challenge how you think about this town like no other.’

Publisher Ginny Grant said, ‘Honest and nuanced, this is the story of a community both ordinary and extraordinary. During this period Broken Hill was a place of strong social capital, civic pride and opportunity, yet it was also marked by contradictions – married women excluded from work, Indigenous people pushed to the margins, and families grieving lives lost underground.’

The Town Like No Other is scheduled for release in March 2026.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions