[citation needed] When asked in an interview, where the name of the book originated, he replied, "I called it 'A Fortunate Life' because I truly believe that is what I had".

As of 2020[update] it has, since its publication in 1981,[1] sold over one million copies, becoming a primary account of the Australian experience during World War I.

In 1899 Bert moved from Victoria to the Goldfields in the care of his grandmother, together with three of his six older siblings: Roy, Eric and Myra.

At the age of eight, although two older brothers remained, when a neighbouring farmer offered a wage and all found,[clarification needed] Bert was put into service.

Over a period of six months he worked in a team moving cattle from the Ashburton river over 970 kilometres (600 miles) to market in Geraldton.

He almost died of hunger and exposure before being found a week later by Aboriginal peoples, who took care of him and lead him back to the drovers.

Looking for work in the pre-war years, he realised that he was not comfortable with paperwork, offices and cities, far preferring life in the bush.

In August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War, Joseph and Roy, two of his brothers, were killed, and Bert was badly wounded.

Facey had been making notes on his life since an early age, and had been entertaining family and friends for decades with his stories which, over the years, became more and more polished (at times at the cost of historical accuracy[2]).

At the urging of his wife, he eventually wrote them up into a full manuscript, by hand, in a series of exercise books, working at the kitchen table.

He then had the manuscript typed up and sent it to Fremantle Arts Centre Press, requesting that twenty copies be printed and bound for family members and friends.