AustLit

'Alfred Deakin, thrice prime minister in the first Commonwealth decade, was unusually gifted and complex — indeed, enigmatic. Earlier analysts have presented multiple facets of this intriguing figure. Walter Murdoch’s “sketch” (1923) captured Deakin’s charismatic appeal, but not the mixed reactions of his contemporaries; John La Nauze produced a meticulous account of the federal political career (1965), but skimmed Deakin’s formative period in colonial politics and ignored the challenges of his inner life and religion; Al Gabay gave us some grasp of the “mystic” Deakin’s religious and spiritual dimensions (1992); and John Rickard provided an engaging interpretation of the “family romance” from which this cosseted prodigy emerged (1996). ' (Introduction)