Author Description

In the months following his resignation as prime minister of Australia in late August 1941, Robert Menzies swayed between relief at his release from the burdens of office and despair that his life at the top had come to so little. Many followers of Australian political history, including Liberal Party supporters, forget that Menzies had many years in the political wilderness not knowing he would end up being Australia's longest-serving prime minister. This book focuses on the period between 1941, when Menzies lost the prime ministership, and 1949, when he regained it. In the interim he traveled around the world, spending an extended time in Britain during World War II, set up the Liberal Party and, the author argues, developed the leadership qualities that made him so successful.