John Edwards (6) (1947–)

Little is known in North America and Europe about the Australian Labour Prime Minister who guided Australia through the opening years of the Great Pacific War. Though this book places me in a world of unfamiliar names and measures of legislation, I found it an engrossing tale. A Labour politician and a journalist, Curtin found himself dealing with the major allied powers of WWII. Both Roosevelt and Churchill had praise and criticism of Curtin's efforts to insure that his middle-sized country achieved national survival in the actions that sought to insure that BIg Power Policies would be the overriding goals of the global conflict. Curtin clashed with the British over their concentration on the defence of India and Suez at the likely expense of Australia's interests and limited resources. Engaging with Washington, Curtin tried to cope with the amount of effort the Americans put into the "paper tiger" of Nationalist China, and of course, with the massive ego of Douglas MacArthur who believed that the road to the White House lay along the north coast of New Guinea. Inhabitants of our world's middle sized countries should find this book a cautionary tale and a useful guide. This volume one sets the stage for the struggles to come.… (meer)