He uses the Olympics as the lens through which to view some of the most profound developments in Australia and the world.This book pulls back the blinds on what was a vitally important year in Australian-and world-history.Nick has the rare ability to blend an historian's eye for the critical detail with a journalist's nose for the underlying human story to deliver a compelling read.simply an excellent storyteller.' - Michael Gleeson, The Age, Richardson's approach to his subject is both thematic and chronological. whimsically charming., Richardson has written a social, political, administrative, sporting and cultural history of Australia during a pivotal year in a pivotal decade., 'Nick Richardson captures the feel not only of a unique Olympics, but of a unique time in Australian history. While keeping the Olympics as the pivot and focus for his year, Richardson also assembles an eclectic cast of supporting players to weave in and out of the narrative.

Throughout, he also follows a range of men and women who were touched by this transformation, to illuminate the personal consequences of being part of Australia's pivotal year.Īs the chronicler of a year, Richardson (an author, academic and journalist) proves spirited, artful and entertaining. 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 clich s 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.

1956 by Nick Richardson