Publisher's Synopsis
Since its first publication in 1984 Struggletown has become an Australian classic. Winner of numerous awards it brought a new vitality to the writing of local history with its unique blending of oral reminiscence politics and social history. It is the biography of a working-class generation born in the shadow of the depression of the 1890s; called to war in 1914; finding its feet in the 1920s only to be struck down by unemployment in the l930s; then rescued by the economic revival of World War II and the long post-war boom. It concludes with the coming of the new Australians in the 1950s and 1960s. But it is also the story of the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond, home of the legendary 'Tigers', of fierce Labour politics, of pride, loyalty and community. It is a story of human courage in the face of poverty and of love and friendship in the face of despair. This portrait of working-class life is moving, powerful and unforgettable.
