First published 2023
Chris Wallace examines the complex world of political biography in Australia. He investigates the forces behind Bob Hawke's celebrated life story and uncovers why Paul Keating dismisses biographies of active politicians as mere snapshots of hectic lives. Wallace reveals John Howard's belief that such books represent serious errors in judgment. He searches for the elusive Menzies biography that never appeared and questions why Australia's earliest prime ministers have faded from public memory. The book exposes the hidden relationships between political leaders and their chroniclers. Wallace demonstrates how these biographical projects serve as tools for creating and destroying public personas. His analysis reveals the calculated strategies politicians use to control their narratives. The work illuminates previously concealed motivations driving both subjects and authors in the biographical process.
Genres: political-science, politics, biography-memoir, political-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Australia
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
336 pages · Paperback · UNSW Press