Ben Chifley was probably Australia's greatest and most popular prime minister of the twentieth century. Many of the policies that his Labor government introduced after the Second World War came to define modern Australia – a mass immigration scheme, improved social services, the beginnings of a free health scheme, a commitment to full employment, the opening up of access to university education, the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a greater engagement with Asia, the promotion of an Australian sentiment, and a commitment to civil liberties amid the anti-communist hysteria of the time.
But who was this man, a humble blacksmith's son who worked his way up from engine-driving on the railways in his hometown of Bathurst to lead his country in its postwar recovery?
Day uncovers rarely known details about Chifley's early life, from his years in the scarred goldfield country of central New South Wales through to his controversial marriage outside of his Catholic religion, his extramarital affairs and his opposition to conscription during WWI.
Ben Chifley has been long neglected by Australian historians and biographers. In this important book, David Day has finally given Chifley his due and set him in the context of his times.
