Dimensions
160 x 240 x 20mm
Michael Zifcak joined Collins Booksellers in Melbourne in 1951, shortly after leaving his native Czechoslovakia and emigrating to Australia. Under his command, it became Australia's largest privately owned bookseller. It also had its own publishing division Hill of Content, which he founded.
From his Lutheran childhood in the small town of Dobsina, to the Nazi occupation in 1939, and the Communist assumption of power in 1948, Zifcak relates the turmoil and difficulties of these early years, and the difficult decision to go into exile, escaping via a border crossing between Bratislava and Vienna, and arriving in Paris, virtually penniless. Here, Michael became a foundation member of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia, set up in Washington to promote a government-in-exile, and eventually decided to begin a new life in Australia, arriving in Melbourne as fare-paying passenger on board the liner Cyrenia. Michael's business flair and hard-won experience soon led him to a successful career in the book world.
