With total access to ALP and national archives, McMullin has produced a frank and authoritative record of the influence and development of all seven Labor parties--namely those in the six states--and the Federal Labor Party, which formed the first labor government soon after Australia became a nation in 1901. The book concentrates on the achievements of the Governments of Fisher, Hughes, Scullin, Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, and Hawke.