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Longest DecadeStock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionBefore the 1990s, the decades in Australia used to run to a predictable script of bust, boom, and bust. They'd commence with the economy in the pits, assume the personality of the good times that followed, and conclude with another collapse. Conveniently, this cycle took about ten years to play out. Paul Keating and John Howard altered the nation's body-clock. Between them, they have dominated the past 30 years of power, as both treasurers and prime ministers. Typically, they are seen only as antagonists with competing visions of Australia and its place in the world. In The Longest Decade, George Megalogenis argues that they also deserve to be seen as the twin architects of the political, economic and social revolution that took Australia through a period of trauma and recovery, and then on to an era of unprecedented affluence. Based on exclusive interviews with both Keating and Howard, and on Megalogenis's many years experience as a member of the Canberra press gallery, The Longest Decade is a brilliant, non-partisan analysis of the forces that shape Australia today - from the rise of working women to the triumph of the McMansion. Reviews""The Longest Decade" avoids the scattergun approach of "The Howard Factor," effectively analysing the Keating and Howard years from 1990 to 2005 . . . Megalogenis supports interesting generalisations with sourced data to give the reader the sense of rigour one wants when comparing governments . . . Of the two books, "The Longest Decade" is the superior read. It is more interesting and, unlike the edited collection "The Howard Factor," there is a common thread throughout, well supported by hard facts." --Peter Van Onselen and Wayne Errington, "Australian Journal of Political Science" Author descriptionGeorge Megalogenis is a senior feature writer for "The Australian" and a former member of the Canberra press gallery. He is the author of "Faultlines: Race, Work, and the Politics of Changing Australia." |