English writer Richard Lovat Somers seeks broader horizons than those of fading post-war Europe, and so, with his wife Harriet, he travels to Australia to discover for himself the people and the way of life in this vast land of opportunity. All too quickly, however, the Somers are caught up in an urgent battle for the political future of Australia. Richard struggles with his past and his personal ideology as he finds himself in a deadly tug-of-war between the mesmerising fascist Kangaroo and the feisty communist Willies Struthers. In this semi-autobiography novel, Lawrence express his own gospel of personal integrity, and with vivid insight penetrates the realities and illusions of the Australian outlook – its gusty individuality, its self-conscious democracy, its open-heartedness and its volatile resentments.