There has never been a book like The Lucky Country. Outselling all other books on Australia, it has helped shape the society it set out to explore. The phrase 'the lucky country' has become part of the Australian language, setting the guidelines for debates about the Australian way of life. When it was first published in 1964 as a radical critique of the philistinism, provincialism and dependence of Australian society, the book caused a sensation. Stylish and witty, it has become a classic. Although a study of the confident Australia of the 1960s, it still has much to offer decades later. This edition contains a new introduction by the author which takes a fresh look at the book and examines its value not only as a source of continuing truths and revealing snapshots of the past, but above all as a key to understanding the anxieties and discontents of Australian society today.
