John Curtin became Australia's Prime Minister eight weeks before Japan launched war in the Pacific. Curtin's struggle for power against Joe Lyons and Bob Menzies, his dramatic use of it when he took office in October 1941, and his determination to be heard in Washington and London as Japan advanced, is a political epic unmatched in Australian experience. As Japan sank much of the Allied navy, advanced on the great British naval base at Singapore, and seized Australian territories in New Guinea, Curtin remade Australia.

Using much new material John Edwards' vivid, landmark biography places Curtin as a man of his times, puzzling through the immense changes in Australia and its region released by the mighty shock of the Pacific War. It shows Curtin not as a hero and certainly not as a villain but as the pivotal figure making his uncertain way between what Australia was, and what it would become. It locates the turning point in Australian history not at Gallipoli or the Western Front or even Federation but in the Pacific War and in Curtin's Prime Ministership.This two volume work is a major contribution to Australian biography, and to how we understand our history. In this first part, Edwards takes Curtin's story from the late nineteenth century socialist ferment in Melbourne through to his appointment as prime minister and a Japanese onslaught so complete and successful that within a few months of launching it military leaders in Tokyo debated between the options of invading Australia, or sealing it off from Allied help.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
7 October 1941 -- The trans -- The life that thrills -- A new beginning -- Capitalism is collapsing -- Perth again -- Labor leadership -- The men who matter -- Curtin's Australia -- Leader -- Defending the Empire -- Menzies to power -- Menzies versus Curtin -- War in Europe -- Australia defenceless -- Jnife edge -- Curtin warns of war in the Pacific -- Preparing for government -- Curtin to power -- Curtin forms his government -- Early decisions, and caucus crisis -- It has come -- Turning to America Curtin appeals to Roosevelt and Churchill -- AIF for the Pacific war -- Resistance collapses in Malaya, Rabaul is invaded, and Curtin makes an ill-timed visit to Perth -- Fall of Singapore bringing the AIF home -- The threat of Japanese invasion -- Australia imperilled.

SELECTIONS FROM THE INDEX:
Frank Anstey. Arcadia Conference and Agreement. Australian Army (AIF). Australian Labor Party (ALP). Australian Navy. Banking system. Jack Beasley. Major-General Gordon Bennett. Maurice Blackburn. General Sir Thomas Blamey. Vivian Bowden. Francis ‘Frank’ Brennan. General Howard Brett. Brisbane Line. British Government. Britain and the British Empire. British Defence Committee. British Navy. Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham. Stanley Bruce. Bruce-Page Government. Burma. Arthur Calwell. Richard ‘Dick’ Casey. Ceylon. Neville Chamberlain. Ben Chifley. China. Winston Churchill. Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin. Commonwealth Bank. Cottesloe (WA). Harold Cox. Hazel Craig. Viscount Cranborne. Sir Ronald Cross. Elsie Curtin (nee Needham). Elsie Curtin (daughter). John Curtin (father). John Curtin (son). Kate Curtin (mother). Curtin War Cabinet. Curtin War Council. Darwin. Alfred Deakin. John Dedman. Arthur Drakeford. Sir Frederic Eggleston. Elections: Federal: 1917, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1943 NSW: 1930, 1939. Dr H.V. (Herbert Vere) ‘Bert’ Evatt. Arthur ‘Artie’ Fadden. Warwick Fairfax. James Fenton. Andrew Fisher. Frank Forde. France. Peter Fraser. Germany. Germany First Doctrine. Sir Robert Gibson. Ross Gollan. Lord Gowrie. Great Depression. Greece campaign. Albert ‘Texas’ Green. Sir Henry Gullett. Lord Halifax. Paul Hasluck. Adolf Hitler. HMS Prince of Wales. HMS Repulse. Holland. Home defence. Hong Kong. Hotel Kurrajong (Canberra). William ‘Billy’ Hughes. Richard Hughes. Cordell Hull. India. Indian Ocean. Italy. Rowley James. Japan. Java. Jews. Admiral Ernest King. Mackenzie King. Kota Bharu. Labour movement. Lae. Jack Lang. Colonel John Lavarack. League of Nations. Enid Lyons. Joseph ‘Joe’ Lyons. General Douglas MacArthur. Fred McLaughlin. Norman Makin. Malaya. Tom Mann. General George C. Marshall. Pattie Menzies. Robert Gordon ‘Bob’ Menzies. Militia. Sir Keith Murdoch. Benito Mussolini. Abraham Needham. Annie Needham. Netherlands East Indies. New Guinea. New Zealand. Bernard O’Dowd. Pacific War. Pacific War Council. Sir Earle Page. Adela Pankhurst. Sir Archdale Parkhill. Sir George Pearce. Philippines. Poland. Port Moresby. Premiers’ Plan. Vincent Quealy. Rabaul, New Britain. Alan Reid. Don Rodgers. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Russia. James ‘Jim’ Scullin. Sir Frederick Shedden. Singapore. Solomons. Isabelle ‘Belle’ Southwell. Percy Spender. Henry L. Stimson. Strikes. Lieutenant-General Vernon Sturdee. Thailand. Ted Theodore. Ben Tillett. Timber Workers’ Union. Timor. Tojo. Tobruk. Trade Unions. Train travel. Truk (Micronesia). Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. United Australia Party (UAP). United States Army, Air Force, Joint Chiefs, Navy. United States of America (USA). Victorian Socialist Party (VSP). War Council. Eddie Ward. General Sir Archibald Wavell. Western Australia. Sir Brudenell White. White Australia Policy. John Wren. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Wynter. Admiral Yamamoto.

Prime Minister’s Literary Award 2018 - Australian history - winner