Joseph Lyons: The Peoples Prime Minister

Description

This landmark book re-establishes Lyons as one of Australia's most capable and popular leaders and reminds us of why he was the first Australian prime minister to win and survive three consecutive elections. A Tasmanian Labor premier in the 1920s, Lyons entered federal politics in 1929 to become a significant figure in the Scullin Labor Cabinet. When Labor split in 1931, Lyons left the party to join the Nationalists and subsequently form the United Australia Party. He was the first Australian political leader to use radio, press photography and newsreels to connect with voters. Joe Lyons led Australia through the financial crisis of the 1930s up to the eve of World War II. He died in office on 7 April, 1939.

Anne Henderson is the deputy director of The Sydney Institute, the editor of The Sydney Papers Online, and the coeditor of The Sydney Institute Quarterly. She is the author of numerous books, including An Angel in The Court: The Life of Major Joyce Harmer, Getting Even: Women MPs on Life, Power and Politics, and The Killing of Sister Irene McCormack.

"Anne Henderson has given her readers a very special understanding of Joe Lyons the individual, a young man from a poor family in the Tasmanian bush who rose to become one of Australia's most popular and long-serving prime ministers--a truly absorbing story." --Jocelyn Newman AO, former Howard Government minister "Anne Henderson has helped fill a gap in the historical record with a very readable narrative of Joe Lyons . . . . I found some of the historical material surrounding the 1931 Labor split during the Great Depression illuminating." --John Howard AC, former Prime Minister of Australia