The Lucky Country Author:Donald Horne Written in 1964, The Lucky Country is an evaluation of Australian society that questions many traditional attitudes. The title comes from the opening words of the book's last chapter: "Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck." Horne's statement was made ironically, as an indictment of 1960's Australia. His in... more »tent was to comment that, while other industrialised nations created wealth using "clever" means such as technology and other innovations, Australia did not. Rather, Australia's economic prosperity was largely derived from its rich natural resources. Horne observed that Australia "showed less enterprise than almost any other prosperous industrial society."
In the decades following his book's publication, Horne became critical of the "lucky country" phrase being used as a term of endearment for Australia. He commented, "I have had to sit through the most appalling rubbish as successive generations misapplied this phrase."
This is a rare new edition that is not even listed on Paperbackswap.com or on Amazon. In other editions, it is titled "The Lucky Country: Australia in the Sixties."
Professor Donald Horne (1921-2005)was an Australian journalist, writer, social critic, and academic who became one of Australia's best known public intellectuals.« less