Robert Menzies: A Life 1894 1943 (Martin, Aw (Allan William)//Robert Menzies) [Hardcover]

A. W. Martin (Author), Patsy Hardy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1993 | ISBN-10: 0522844421 | ISBN-13: 978-0522844429

Admired and reviled, for more than thirty years Robert 'Ming' Menzies stood at the centre of power in Australia. His concerns and political style influenced two generations; from the beginning of his long political career he grew to dominate the practice and language of Australian politics. The first of two volumes, this book documents the early years of the brilliant lawyer who came to be known as 'Pig-Iron Bob' and who was to create the Liberal Party from the ashes of the UAP, becoming a towering figure in post-war Australia.

'Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war' Robert Menzies

Editorial Reviews

Review

'. . . the first volume of a solid work of political history, with lots of facts and insights into specific events, policies and decisions.' -- Kosmas Tsokhas, Australian Journal of Politics and History

About the Author

Dr Allan Martin is the author of Henry Parkes, a biography hailed as a work of 'great scholarship, infinite compassion' and 'one of the very best biographies ever written by, or on, an Australian'. He has taught at the universities of New South Wales, Melbourne and Adelaide and from 1966 to 1973 was Foundation Professor of History at La Trobe University. Until retirement in 1992 he was Senior Fellow in History at the Australian National University. He is co-author with Peter Loveday of Parliament, Factions and Parties, editor of Essays in Australian Federation and co-editor of The Emergence of the Australian Party System.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 456 pages
• Publisher: Melbourne Univ Pr (February 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0522844421
• ISBN-13: 978-0522844429
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,118,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, August 29, 2002

By 

Tom Munro "tomfrombrunswick" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Menzies: A Life 1894 1943 (Martin, Aw (Allan William)//Robert Menzies) (Hardcover)

Robert Menzies was a conservative Australian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941 when he surpringly resigned. At this time the Australian Labour party won office and dominated politics for the next eight years. Menzies built up a new party to regain power which he called the Liberal Party. He also developed an ideology to appeal to the forgoten people. That is he positioned his conservative party to appeal to the middle class rather than having it to closely aligned with big business.

Volume one of this biography concerns his early years and his career up to 1941. He was born in a country town and came from a poor family. He was able to get a university eduction and became a succesful lawyer and state politician before moving to the federal sphere. He did not serve in the first world war although his brothers did.

The book is actually by an author who has more sympathy with the labour side of politics rather than the conservative. Never the less it is a reasonable portrait of the man and also the period. One of the better Australian political biographies.