Dimensions
180 x 255 x 45mm
Australia emerged from World War I into a decade of profound change, characterised by a revolution in behaviour amongst the young; by the first great age of consumerism; and by secret right wing armies and the growth of the Communist Party.
As in the two previous volumes of Australians, Thomas Keneally brings history to vivid and pulsating life as he traces the lives and the deeds of Australians known and unknown. He follows the famous and the infamous through the Great Crash and the rise of Fascism, and explains how Australia was inexorably drawn into a war that led her forces into combat throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and the Pacific. At home an atmosphere of fear grew with the fall of Singapore and the bombing of Darwin, the Japanese advance and then the arrival of General MacArthur.
The 1950s-depicted by some as an age of full employment, by others as the age of suburban spread and boredom under the serene prime ministership of Robert Menzies-were as complicated as Menzies himself. Most Australians believed there would be nuclear war before the end of the decade. The Korean War and British testing of the atomic bomb in South Australia were seen as preludes. With the defection of the Soviet spy Ivan Petrov, Australians were convinced they were living in the last of days. On the street, the face of Australia was undergoing an Italian, Greek and Slavic-led change. And in even greater upheaval, Asian trade and immigration were coming our way as we advanced towards a war in Vietnam and the firming of the American alliance. The result of masterly writing and exhaustive research, this volume of Australians brings our more recent history to vibrant and robust life.
Peace brought its own problems with the Depression that left one third of Australians unemployed. Keneally believes too that the 1950s are misunderstood - depicted by some as an age of full employment, by others as the age of suburban spread and boredom under the serene prime ministership of Robert Menzies. But Menzies was complicated and so were the 1950s. A majority of Australians believed there would be nuclear war before the end of the decade. The Korean war was seen as prelude, and so our government agreed to British atom bomb tests in the South Australian desert and at the Montebello islands. The fall of the French in Vietnam was prelude to our engagement there and, along with the defection of the Soviet spy Petrov, convinced Australians they were living in the last of days. Under this pressure the talented leader of the ALP, Bert Evatt, one of the founders of the UN, saw his party begin to split in two. On the street, the face of Australia, in an era of great change, was undergoing an Italian, Greek and Slavic-led sea change. And in even greater changes, Asian trade and immigration, were coming our way, especially now that we had signed the peace treaty with Japan.
The result of masterly writing and exhaustive research is a volume which brings Australia's more recent history to vibrant life.
