When Dennis McIntosh went to work on an underground construction site in Melbourne’s west, he was twenty-seven and starting over. His years as a shearer had ended badly, he was an alcoholic, and his eldest daughter had a brain injury.

When Dennis McIntosh went to work on an underground construction site in Melbourne’s west, he was twenty-seven and starting over. His years as a shearer had ended badly, he was an alcoholic, and his eldest daughter had a brain injury. Having been kicked out of school in ninth grade, he had no prospects. He’d been through four jobs in as many months. The tunnel was his last chance.

That was in 1985, and when he resurfaced seven years later Dennis was a changed man. He had endured bitter clashes with his crew and management, lonely nightshifts and a marriage breakup, but had overcome his claustrophobia and drinking. His turning point was the realisation that, like his daughter, he could retrain his brain - by getting an education.

‘A haunting picture of life underground reminiscent of Orwell’s descriptions of going down the mine … A gritty portrait of a different universe.’ Steven Carroll, The Age