Summary

On a political level, Ben Chifley is a Labor icon who vies with John Curtin for the top place in the party's pantheon of heroes. But like Curtin, he was admired across political boundaries. As prime minister from 1945-49, he established many of the policies that became an accepted part of Australian life: mass immigration, full employment, the Snowy Mountains Scheme, to name just a few. In contrast to our age of privatisation and economic rationalism, Chifley stood for a strong state sector able to moderate the excesses of capitalism. However, Chifley's personal life had melancholic resonances. In his early childhood he was sent from his parents' house to live a primitive rural life with his grandfather. His marriage was childless, to his bitter regret, and he was involved for much of it with another woman in whose company he was destined to die. Chifley is a gripping and essential political biography from David Day, author of "John Curtin: A Life" and winner of the 2000 Queensland Premier's Prize for History.

Notes

Includes index. Bibliography : p. [535]-547.

Classification

• LCC: DU114
• Dewey Decimal: 994.04092

Book Details

• Language: eng
• Physical Description: xiv, 562, [24] p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 24 cm.
• Edition Info: (pbk.)

Subjects

• Chifley, J. B. -- (Joseph Benedict),1885-1951
• Prime ministers -- Australia -- Biography
• Politicians -- Australia -- Biography
• Australia -- Politics and government -- 1945-1965

Buying This Book

We query many merchants so that you can instantly compare prices and availability. You can even check historic prices and subscribe for notifications. For a manual check, clicking on a link will open a new window with a search for this book on the merchant's site of your choice.

• Amazon.com by title or by ISBN - widest selection, reliable service, good prices
• Abebooks.com by title or by ISBN - good source for rare and out-of-print books
• Textbooks.com by title or by ISBN - large inventory of new & used textbooks
• Alibris.com by title or by ISBN - their slogan is "books you thought you'd never find"
• eCampus.com by title or by ISBN - they specialize in textbooks, used and new
• BN.com by title or by ISBN - Barnes & Noble has a wide selection of new and used books