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Bezig met laden... My Lifedoor David Lange
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David Lange had a rich life. As prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989 he oversaw the transformation of a society and its economy in what is now seen as an historic turning point in the country's development. From exhilarating triumph over the Muldoon government to championing a nuclear-free policy during the last days of the Cold War, the tragedy of the Rainbow Warrior bombing to titanic battles within cabinet over economic policy, this is a remarkable history as told by a remarkable man. The story of how the doctor's son from Otahuhu grew up to lead his country and confront the great issues of the day, and of how life after power as well as long battles with various illnesses affected him, is also a personal and moving account of one man's life, told with all the author's characteristic wit, intelligence and compassion. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)993.038092History and Geography Oceania and elsewhere New Zealand 1908-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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This short autobiographical memoir - dictated in his last days, as his eyesight gave out and he could no longer read or write, is a wonderful book. Lange's prose is wonderful in the early stages - benefitting, I think, from the manner in which he delivered the manuscript (you can almost hear it as an ex tempore public address) - and there is something sombre and moving about the way, as the chapters progress, the fluidity dries up, a function of Lange's failing health and ebbing energy. David Lange died two days after the final proofs rolled from the presses.
Not only beautifully crafted, but historically interesting too: clearly (and unashamedly) coloured by Lange's own perspective, it is a useful prism for viewing the directions in which Lange pulled his administration, which at the time defied easy explanation. Lange is candid about the deterioration of his relationship with co-architect Roger Douglas, and magnanimous enough to recognise that their long-lasting rancour was due as much to his own intemperate personality as Douglas' uncompromising vision.
I dare say that Douglas' memoir of the same period, should he write one (and I hope he does) will provide a somewhat different and equally valuable picture of events.
Ultimately the Lange administration will be seen in the wider geo-political context of the 1980s perhaps as something that was going to happen at some point anyway, but when one looks at the vibrant, dynamic and diverse culture, economy and polity that New Zealand enjoys today, and compare it with the staid and stultifying one which Lange took on in 1984, one can only tip one's hat to the man who actually did start that process rolling and acknowledge this very personal record of the events.
In 1984 Lange's soon-to-be predecessor, the late unlamented Rob Muldoon, left a sarcastic epitaph, reflexively, in the course of being pasted in a televised political debate: when stumped for anything to else say at all, barked bitterly: "I Love You, Mister Lange".
A few years on, with plenty of hindsight and more wounds healed by time, this might yet - without Muldoon's ironic veneer - grow to be the received wisdom about David Russell Lange's contribution to New Zealand's political history. ( )