![]() ![]() He brilliantly recreates the broader events surrounding the Melbourne Olympics at the end of 1956, as well as the dramas of the Games themselves. ![]() Nick Richardson peels back the layers to reveal Australia at a critical moment in time. In these ways and more, the world came to Australia’s doorstep in 1956, challenging rusted-on habits and indelibly shifting the nation’s perception of itself. In this year, Prime Minister Robert Menzies grappled with world politics, when he opened the country’s doors to refugees from the Hungarian uprising, allowed British nuclear tests at Maralinga, and tried to resolve the greatest diplomatic episode of the decade: the Suez Crisis. It also heralded the arrival of television in Australia. ![]() This was the year when Melbourne hosted the Summer Olympics, the first edition of the Games to be held outside Europe and North America. The truth is that, by the time the ’60s came around, Australia was already expanding its outlook - politically, economically, and culturally - and central to this were the events of 1956. This book debunks one of the hardiest clichés in Australian history: that the 1950s was a dull decade, when the nation seemed only interested in a quiet life, a cup of tea, and a weekend drive. An engrossing account of a pivotal year in Australia’s history. ![]()
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