In 'The Barren Years' one of this country's most influential thinkers describes the changes in our political culture during the tenure of the Howard government. Robert Manne voted for John Howard in 1996 but as the Coalition government revealed its true character he became one of its most trenchant and articulate critics.
In this compelling new book Manne describes a period in which we have lost opportunity after opportunity. Hopes for the republic and Aboriginal reconciliation are fading. The universities and the ABC are under siege. And refugees are incarcerated in prison-style camps.
More than any other commentator Manne shows how social divisions between "winners" and "losers", between city and country, run deep. He analyses the One Nation phenomenon's refusal to die. How we reached the centenary of federation in an uneasy and uncertain mood. In 'The Barren Years' Manne asks the basic question - what has gone wrong?
