1956: the year Australia welcomed the world

Description

-- This was the year when Melbourne hosted the Summer Olympics, the first edition of the Games to be held outside Europe and North America. It also heralded the arrival of television in Australia. 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. 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. Nick Richardson peels back the layers to reveal Australia at a critical moment in time. He brilliantly recreates the broader events surrounding the Melbourne Olympics at the end of 1956, as well as the dramas of the Games themselves. 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.;Intro; About the Author; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Epigraphs; Contents; Preface; Prologue: April 1949; Summer 1955-56; 1 A Dame Is Born; 2 Rebels, Villains, and Heroes; Autumn 1956; 3 The Enemy Within; 4 The Bomb in the Outback; Winter 1956; 5 It's a Men's Game; 6 One-Armed Bandits; Spring 1956; 7 With Open Arms; 8 Clouds on the Horizon; 9 Lighting the Way; 10 The World Waits; Summer 1956-57; 11 Let the Games Begin; 12 The Worst of Times, the Best of Times; Finale; Acknowledgements; Notes; Select Bibliography