Robert Menzies was a conservative Australian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941 when he surpringly resigned. At this time the Australian Labour party won office and dominated politics for the next eight years. Menzies built up a new party to regain power which he called the Liberal Party. He also developed an ideology to appeal to the forgoten people. That is he positioned his conservative party to appeal to the middle class rather than having it to closely aligned with big business.

Volume one of this biography concerns his early years and his career up to 1941. He was born in a country town and came from a poor family. He was able to get a university eduction and became a succesful lawyer and state politician before moving to the federal sphere. He did not serve in the first world war although his brothers did.

The book is actually by an author who has more sympathy with the labour side of politics rather than the conservative. Never the less it is a reasonable portrait of the man and also the period. One of the better Australian political biographies.

It's not the first time this has happened to Chet Morton, but that doesn't make much difference. Can the Hardys save their friend? Read this Hardy Boys book and find out. I think this is a good book for anyonf from the age of 9 to 13.

This novel covers the campaign in Gaul. It is mainly written from the point of view of a new recruit. The historicl and social aspects of the time are nicely captured, despite some stylistic problems. I liked the book and still read it from time to time. The follow up novel "The bloodied Toga" is unfortunately unawailable.

This is a good fast-paced kidnap mystery. It's great for kids.

This small book contains (too few) quotations from more or less famous films. They are divided into categories such as Foreplay, Marriage, Propositions or Stolen Hearts. I think it is a great book, and very usefull if you need a quote to put on a card or in a letter (especially love letters come to mind), or whatever you do with quotations. The question is, however, do you want to pay ( ) for a rather small book? (It also makes a great gift, precisely because it is not a big tome but a small paperback.)

A missing film nearly ruins a science fiction convention, but Frank and Joe help look for the film.

The Secret of Skeleton Reef is a book that will keep you guessing. This book takes place on the island of St. Lucia. The Hardys find there way into yet another mystery. This time they need to find out how their new friend Crissy got on the beach one night.

This spare little book is a sweeping survey of the "big picture" of about three millenia of European history. The themes are so wide that it verges on a natural history of the humans that have occupied Europe over this period. But broad-stroked sketches, in the hands of a master, can reveal more than they obscure, can be works of great beauty, and can start one thinking about the essentials that emerge from the welter of detail.

This book was'nt really that good! Personally I prefer the other Hardy Boys books( you know the ones with the blackish cover.) Anyways in this book the Hardy's friend Jamal is worried about another friend of his who's been acting weird. The brother's are suspicious and look into whats bothering this other guy. Asusual they end up uncovering a mystery and eventually solving it. Read the book to find out what happens.

Another good kids book from the Hardy Boys Casefiles series. It's full of chess champs, spies, and plenty of fast-paced action.