Biography > Political

Malcolm Fraser is one of the most interesting and possibly most misunderstood of Australia's Prime Ministers. In this part-memoir and part-authorised biography, Fraser, at the age of 79 years, talks about his time in public life. From the Vietnam War to the dismissal and his years as Prime Minister, through to his concern in recent times for breaches in the Rule of Law and harsh treatment of refugees, Fraser emerges as an enduring liberal, constantly reinterpreting core values to meet the needs of changing times. Written in collabo... read more

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The speeches collected in After Words, virtuosic in their scale and range of subjects, are remarkably the work of one eye and one mind: that of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. The speeches reveal the breadth and depth of Keating's interests - be they cultural, historical, or policy-focused - dealing with subjects as broad as international relations, economic policy and politics. Individual chapters range from a discussion of Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House through to the redesign of Berlin, the history of native tit... read more

Separated by war and her family's disapproval, the young lovers lose each other for fifty years. It is a testimony to both Maitland's investigative skills and her devotion to her mother that she successfully traced the lost Roland and was able to reunite him with Janine. Unlike so many stories of love during wartime, theirs has a happy ending.

When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together they planned a White House life that would be as normal and sane as possible. Then they moved in. In "The Obamas", Jodi Kantor takes us deep inside the White House as they grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be President and First Lady. Filled with r... read more

In 1963, Mimi Beardsley was a naive young American girl, very much a product of her class and time - she had attended the same exclusive girls' school as Jackie Bouvier, now installed in the White House as the president's wife, which is also where Mimi found herself, as an 18-years-old intern. The JFK White House was a place for which she was not remotely prepared, dominated by the charismatic and sexually rapacious figure of the president. Within days, they had started a relationship. There are several extraordinary things about M... read more

If he had never become Prime Minister, Paul Keating's place in Australian history would still have been assured. He was the Treasurer who deregulated the economy; the weaver of Labor's modern story; its heavy weapon in the parliament. He was also the great enigma - a self-educated boy from Sydney's working class and a defining element of the head-kicking Labor right who loved Paris, Mahler and Second Empire clocks. Paul Keating did become Prime Minister. In December 1991 he wrested it from Bob Hawke and the bruises from that strug... read more

A handsome collectable hardback publication for the curious of mind and the legion of Keating fans who love the way the man thinks and speaks. There are thirteen years of speeches in here written and delivered since he left office, many of them only heard by those in the audience at the time and none published in book form.

A fierce critic of Islam and a champion of the West, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born former member of the Dutch parliament and the author of the international bestseller "Infidel", whose courage in the face of Islamist death threats made her an icon for millions of Westerners who believed she was attacked for speaking out on behalf of women. An American-educated neuroscientist born in Pakistan, Aafia Siddiqui is a virulently anti-Western Islamist with ties to al-Qaeda whose alleged imprisonment by the CIA and conviction in the New... read more

For nearly fifty years, Hoover was the most powerful man in the USA. The creator of the FBI and its Director until his death in 1972, he played a key role in nearly every major tragedy and scandal in America during the twentieth Century. This title reveals the myths, exposing the dark secrets that remained hidden throughout Hoover's lifetime.

In 1999 a young man from suburban Adelaide set out on an overseas trip that would change his life forever. Initially, he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road. But events would set him on a different path. He would be deemed a terrorist, one of George W Bush's 'worst of the worst'. He would be incarcerated in the world's most notorious prison, Guantanamo Bay. And in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, 'even dogs won't live', he was to languish for five and a half years, sufferi... read more

The only thing that kept me sane, well reasonably sane, during 20 years "hard labor" was the hilarious things that my erstwhile colleagues became involved in.

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The first contemporary biographical study of Gough Whitlam from his childhood in Canberra, his extensive war service and marriage to Margaret, this book draws upon the author's unprecedented access to archival material and interviews with family and colleagues and interviews with Gough himself. First in two-volume set.

John Howard's autobiography, Lazarus Rising, is the biggest-selling political memoir Australia has seen. In it he talks about his love for his family, his rollercoaster ride to the Lodge and how - as prime minister - he responded to issues like climate change and the war on terrorism. Drawing on his deep interest in history, he paints a fascinating picture of a changing Australia. In this new revised edition, he also analyses the cataclysmic lead-up to the 2010 election and the vexed political paradigm that emerged. From the future... read more

When Julia Gillard - a woman who was unmarried, childless, and an atheist - became Australia's first female prime minister after the 2010 election, opposition leader Tony Abbott was left boiling with rage. It was bad enough that he had lost, but to have to lost to a woman was shameful. For a few days he could not bring himself to call her Prime Minister or even look her in the eyes. Beyond these particular events, and behind his boyish grin and easy charm, women sense in Abbott a man who has no respect or tolerance for the social c... read more

Julian Assange: the Unauthorised Biography WikiLeaks has helped redefine our idea of investigative journalism and our understanding of how information should be disseminated. Julian Assange, the visionary creator of and driving force behind this new publishing phenomenon, has a unique perspective on how WikiLeaks has evolved into one of today's most influential and fearless news organisations. In this revelatory account, Assange expands on the philosophies that underpin his stateless, ground-breaking media company. He draws on his... read more

rogue (rog), n: An elephant that has separated from a herd and roams about alone, in which state it is very savage. - "Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

After three years of research, bestselling journalist Joe McGinniss presents his already controversial and much anticipated investigative chronicle of Sarah Palin as an individual, politician, and cultural phenomenon. In his critically acclaimed book about Alaska, "Going to Extremes," the fledgling state itself was Joe McGinniss's subject. Although he didn't hes... read more

Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt's marriage is one of the most celebrated and scrutinized partnerships in presidential history. It raised eyebrows in their lifetimes and has only become more controversial since their deaths.

Provides an account of life at the centre of the Blair government. This title also provides accounts of a variety of domestic crises: foot-and-mouth disease and protests over fuel prices which almost brought Britain to a halt.