The colonel : a political biography of Sir Michael Bruxner

Abstract

The Australian Country Party is a small group that has achieved a political success quite disproportionate to its size. That success, in the author{u2019}s opinion, is due largely to the quality of its leaders. The Colonel is the political biography of one of those leaders, Sir Michael Bruxner. Dr Aitkin presents Bruxner against the background of New South Wales politics between 1920 and 1960. He allows his subject{u2019}s words and deeds to speak for themselves: the reader watches the young Bruxner develop those qualities of leadership that distinguish him from his fellow actors on the political stage, qualities that made him unchallenged leader of his party for thirty years. This biography, one of a growing number of studies of notable Australians, is the story of a man of dignity, humanity, and unquestionable integrity that will appeal not only to political scientists interested in the problems of political leadership but also to the many, from city and country alike, interested in a distinguished man who served his country well in war and peace.