The publication in 1964 of ""The Lucky Country"" changed the way that Australians thought about themselves. Its fresh and penetrating critique of the Australian way of life, both private and public, confirmed its author Donald Horne's status as a leading figure in Australian intellectual life, and is still influential four decades on. MUP republishes an extract from Horne's memoirs that recalls both critically and nostalgically the personal and public circumstances, which led him to write ""The Lucky Country"".