Back from the Brink is the second volume of a projected four-volume series that investigates the performance of the four Howard governments (1996–2007). The first dealt with the Liberal– National Party coalition’s election in 1996 and their first year in power. The work under review focuses on the period from ‘January 1997 when the Workplace Relations Act 1996 came into operation until the Aston by-election’ in July 2001. Back from the Brink is based on papers originally presented at a conference organised by UNSW Canberra, held at the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, on 14–15 November 2017.