A Little History of the Australian Labor Party

Description

The Australian Labor Party is one of the oldest labour parties and was the first in the world to form a government. 2011 marks its 120th birthday. This short and lively book tells the story of the ALP's numerous successes in winning government at all levels and making policy that has transformed lives. The book also shows how the ALP has attracted an extraordinary range of members, parliamentary representatives, leaders, unionists, activists and, indeed, opponents. Whether their audience are Labor voters or not, writers Nick Dyrenfurth and Frank Bongiorno argue that it has been such a central force in Australia throughout the twentieth century that its history should be known.

Frank Bongiorno is a senior lecturer at the Menzies Center for Australian Studies and Department of History at King's College London. He is the author of The People's Party: Victorian Labor and the Radical Tradition, 1875-1914. Nick Dyrenfurth is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney. He is the author of Heroes and Villains: The Rise and Fall of the Early Australian Labor Party, the coeditor of Confusion: The Making of the Australian Two-Party System, and a frequent contributor to the Australian. Senator John Faulkner is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the Australian Senate since 1989, representing the state of New South Wales.