In 1937, Fitzpatrick won the University of Melbourne's Harbison Higinbotham Scholarship with his manuscript of British imperialism and Australia 1783–1833; it was published by George Allen and Unwin in 1939. A sequel, The British Empire in Australia: An Economic History, 1834–1939, was published in 1941. A Short History of the Australian Labor Movement was published by Rawson's Bookshop, Melbourne in 1940 with a new enlarged edition in 1944.
In 1937, Fitzpatrick received the University of Melbourne's Harbison Higinbotham Scholarship for his work on British imperialism and Australia from 1783 to 1833. His manuscript was published by George Allen and Unwin in 1939. A second book, "The British Empire in Australia: An Economic History, 1834–1939," followed in 1941.  A Short History of the Australian Labor Movement was published by Rawson's Bookshop, Melbourne in 1940 and later re-released with an expanded edition in 1944.