Robert Menzies claimed the prime ministership in 1939 and led the nation during the early years of the war, but resigned two years later when he lost the confidence of his party. His political career seemed over, and yet he staged one of the great comebacks to forge a new political party with a new philosophy, and to craft a winning electoral approach that was to make him Australia’s longest-serving prime minister.
The lessons Menzies learned - and the way he applied them - made him a model that every Liberal leader since has looked to for inspiration. But debate over Menzies’ life and legacy has never settled.
Who was Robert Menzies, what did he stand for, and what did he achieve? To find out, Troy Bramston not only researched the official record and published accounts, but also interviewed members of Menzies’ family, and his former advisers and ministers. He was also given exclusive access to family letters, as well as to a series of interviews that Menzies gave that had never been revealed before.
