Australians #3: Flappers to Vietnam
Thomas KeneallyThe 1950s-depicted by some as an age of full employment, by others as the age of suburban spread & boredom under the serene prime ministership of Robert Menzies-were as complicated as Menzies himself. Most Australians believed there would be nuclear war before the end of the decade. The Korean War & British testing of the atomic bomb in South Australia were seen as preludes. With the defection of the Soviet spy Ivan Petrov, Australians were convinced they were living in the last of days. On the street, the face of Australia was undergoing an Italian, Greek & Slavic-led change. And in even greater upheaval, Asian trade & immigration were coming our way as we advanced towards a war in Vietnam & the firming of the American alliance. The result of masterly writing & exhaustive research, this volume of Australians brings our more recent history to vibrant & robust life.