The Menzies Legacy

Name: The Menzies Legacy
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ISBN: 9780522881905

Ideals, Change, Procession, 1960s and Beyond

Zachary Gorman

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MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRES
10 February 2026

Biography: historical, political & military; History; Australasian & Pacific history; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Political leaders & leadership

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Was Robert Menzies out of step with the swinging 1960s, or did he shape the profound changes that it wrought?

Menzies led Australia for over half the decade, finally retiring in 1966 as our oldest prime minister. His reputation for stability and continuity appears opposed to everything we commonly associate with the 1960s. Yet he governed during a dynamic period marked by rising levels of homeownership, university education, opportunities for women, engagement with Asia, instantaneous communications, space exploration, international travel and trade.

These years also saw the decline of bitter sectarian divisions, an evolving Australian identity and even the introduction of a new currency. Multitudinal transformations occurred against a backdrop of stormy geopolitical tensions, involving a presidential assassination, a clandestine war with Indonesia, the introduction of conscription and the commitment of a combat battalion to Vietnam.

Australia would never be the same, but was this because of or despite Menzies? All these questions are explored in the last of a four-volume history of Menzies and his world, based on conferences convened by the Robert Menzies Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Contributors include Christopher Beer, Geoffrey Blainey, Frank Bongiorno, Nicholas Brown, Andrew Carr, Jennifer Clark, Selwyn Cornish, Gwilym Croucher, Peter Dean, Damien Freeman, David Furse-Roberts, Matilda Hatcher, John Hawkins, Anne Henderson, Sean Jacobs, David Lee, Tom Lewis, Stephen Loosley, Lucas McLennan, Lyndon Megarrity, Michael de Percy, Charles Richardson, Dean Smith, William Stoltz, James Waghorne, James Walter and Joshua Woodward.

By: Zachary Gorman
Imprint: MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRES
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9780522881905
ISBN 10: 0522881904
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 10 February 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Dr Zachary Gorman is the research manager and historian at the Robert Menzies Institute. A professional historian, Gorman has worked as a researcher and academic since 2013, including several years at the University of Wollongong, where he received his PhD. He has authored or edited nine books, including Sir Joseph Carruthers: Founder of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Summoning Magna Carta: Freedom's Symbol Over a Millennium, and Unity in Autonomy: A Federal History of the Founding of the Liberal Party. He has been published in a wide range of academic journals.