An assessment of Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, by John Howard, Australia’s second-longest serving Prime Minister, this is a significant, unique and fascinating history of the Menzies era – a time that laid the foundations for modern Australia.
‘Engaging and revealing … like a torchlight shone from an unexpected angle’ Geoffrey Blainey, Weekend Australian
Fresh from the success of his phenomenal bestselling memoir, LAZARUS RISING, which has sold over 100,000 copies, John Howard now turns his attention to one of the most extraordinary periods in Australian history, the Menzies era, canvassing the longest unbroken period of government for one side of politics in Australia’s history. The monumental Sir Robert Menzies held power for a total of over 18 years, making him the longest-serving Australian Prime Minister. During his second term as Prime Minister, a term of over sixteen years – by far the longest unbroken tenure in that office – Menzies dominated Australian politics like no one else has ever done before or since, and these years laid the foundations for modern Australia.
The Menzies era saw huge economic growth, social change and considerable political turmoil. Covering the impact of the great Labor split of 1955 as well as the recovery of the Labor Party under Whitlam’s leadership in the late 1960s and the impact of the Vietnam War on Australian politics, this magisterial book offers a comprehensive assessment of the importance of the Menzies era in Australian life, history and politics. John Howard, only ten when Menzies rose to power, and in young adulthood when the Menzies era came to an end, saw Menzies as an inspiration and a role model. His unique insights and thoughtful analysis into Menzies the man, the politician, and his legacy make this a fascinating, highly significant book.
‘This important book’ Clive James, Times Literary Supplement
Reviews:
‘I’m a fan of John Howard as an author – he writes well, and fairly – apparently seeing things as they were, not as he would like things to have been. He doesn’t gloat about himself all the time as so many political book writers do. He tells the story in an interesting way. I would recommend this book as an accurate description of the Menzies Era. I am old enough to have quite a lot of memories of this era, and John Howard has written things I believe as they did happen. It makes you realise that the chopping and changing around that’s going on these days is not an isolated event. There’s always been disagreements between politicians of the same parties. Not always admitted it would seem!’ – Amazon review
Condition: Lovely lightly used.
Hardcover
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