Recalling Cold War warriors.(Menzies and the 'Great World Struggle': Australia's Cold War, 1948-1954)(Book review)

David Lowe. Menzies and the 'Great World Struggle': Australia's Cold War, 1948-1954. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 1999. 243 pages. Aus$29.95. ISBN 086840 553 1.

WORLD WAR II and the postwar period produced great leaders who may today appear dated and rooted in the hysteria of the war and the subsequent Cold War. For Australia the single most important figure of this era was Robert Menzies, twice Prime Minister but remembered mainly for his second term that lasted 16 years from 1949 to 1966. He was the quintessential Cold War warrior. An overpowering figure, he was, is, and continues to be controversial.

There is actually little biographical …