The Menzies Era

by John Howard

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

Genres: Politics, History, Biography, Australia, Nonfiction

720 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

John Howard waited a long time to become Prime Minister: by the time he won the job he had been in parliament for 22 years. Howard became Australia's second longest serving Prime Minister and during his term in office achieved nation-wide gun control legislation and significant reforms in industrial relations and taxation.

After eleven years in office Howard became the second Prime Minister to lose his seat in the House of Representatives while still serving as Prime Minister.

Reviews

[Andrew Klynsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A readable and approachable but lengthy read, covering the events of the span of Menzies' career and reflecting on and defending it's legacy.

[Sean Moffat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Howard writing about Menzies is like Giuliani writing about Trump. There is very little objectivity in it and it is in essence a massive revisionist text aimed at attributing every positive part of post war Australian history to Menzies. Not only that, Howard juxtaposes his own time as PM with Menzies in an attempt to equate himself with the “greatest PM Australia has ever had”. It shouldn’t be surprising but it was disappointing all the same.

[Philip Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Howard writes competently and authoritatively about his favourite PM. His own politics intrude less often than one might expect, and that's creditable. But it's still a textbook. The sort of book you keep on your shelf and read a chapter a month, or dip into for references. In hardback version, it's also a 707-page tome that made my hands ache at each sitting.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic, in-depth, and well written account of the Menzies era in Australia. Howard is an exceptional writer and I really enjoyed his in-depth account of all things politics from this time. Not a biography about Menzies by any stretch of the imagination (I'll have to search my libraries for those) but an educational read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[Mirko · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish John Howard had someone working with him on this book in a manner that involved providing a strong constructive feedback as opposed to simply nodding in deference to a former PM. Was a proper editor involved?

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An impressive account of the Menzies Era by the former Prime Minister John Howards. I was very surprised at how well written it was. Howard is a superb communicator and his account of these seminal decades in Australian 20th century politics is excellent

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly satisfactory. Howard has written a readable, well-researched piece of historical reflection on a pivotal era, and the influence of Robert Menzies. It is refreshing to read a thorough recounting of 1940-1972 in Australian social and political history, and to have it done in a complimentary way to the country itself, and to Menzies. The slobbering over Whitlam and his 2.5 years of fiscal incompetence and governance disasters from 1972-1975 is completely overblown in contemporary universities and general historical analysis, and Whitlam's legacy is taught as though he made modern Australia. Far from it. Menzies has a more credible claim to that role, and this book goes a good way to recovering that.

[Benjamin Farr · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Disclosure: I am not aligned to any political party, and would define myself as a swing voter]

I found this huge book to be lacking in so much. I am a great lover of political biographies - from both the left and right. I found this book to be not only incredibly boring (where was the editor?!) but so incredibly bias that it was at times laughable (especially the near constant swipes at Labor, whether relevant to the narrative or not).

I enjoyed John Howard's autobiography, but was left deeply disappointed with this one.

Not recommended.