Frank Bongiorno
The Eighties: The Decade That Transformed Australia
Black Inc., 2017
It was the era of Hawke and Keating, Kylie and INXS, the America’s Cup and the Bicentenary. It was perhaps the most controversial decade in Australian history, with high-flying entrepreneurs booming and busting, torrid debates over land rights and immigration, the advent of AIDS, a harsh recession and the rise of the New Right.
It was a time when Australians fought for social change – on union picket lines, at rallies for women’s rights and against nuclear weapons, and as part of a new environmental movement.
And then there were the events that left many scratching their heads: Joh for Canberra . . . the Australia Card . . . Cliff Young.
In The Eighties, Frank Bongiorno brings all this and more to life. He sheds new light on ‘both the ordinary and extraordinary things that happened to Australia and Australians during this liveliest of decades’.
2016 ACT Book of the Year Award - Winner
Shortlisted, 2016 NSW Premier’s History Award
Shortlisted, 2016 Ernest Scott Prize
Shortlisted, 2016 CHASS Australia Book Prize
“A very impressive achievement of historical synthesis, written in lucid, fast-moving prose with an eye for the telling detail. This is fine writing for the decade that brought Australia fine dining.”
About the Author
Frank Bongiorno is professor of history at the Australian National University and author of the award-winning The Sex Lives of Australians. He has written for the Monthly, the Australian and Inside Story.
