In this highly readable and revelatory account of the Governors of South Australia, leading historian Philip Payton charts the evolution of the vice-regal role from foundation in 1836 to the present day, setting the development of this distinguished office against the backdrop of the State’s often dramatic history. He tells the story of Government House and other vice-regal residences, notably Marble Hill which was all but destroyed on ‘Black Sunday’ in January 1955, and provides biographical sketches of each of the State’s thirty-five Governors to date (of whom only two were women). Rich in anecdote and detail, Professor Payton’s lively history illuminates the careers of each of these Governors, probing their personalities, revealing their foibles, passions and achievements, just occasionally with a whiff of scandal. Governors’ wives, and sometimes other family members too, are no less interesting, and several have made lasting contributions to their adopted State, as Philip Payton demonstrates in this comprehensive and absorbing book.