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'The definitive full-life biography of Australia's 23rd prime minister; the only one that Hawke cooperated with after exiting the prime ministership.
'This unprecedented biography of Hawke includes an exclusive series of interviews with him - the last that he gave - as well as unfiltered access to his extensive trove of personal papers. It features new interviews with more than 100 people who knew and worked with Hawke, including his family and friends; political and union colleagues, and rivals; advisers and public servants; and journalists; along with international contemporaries of Hawke such as George H.W. Bush, John Major, Brian Mulroney, James Baker and George Shultz.
'It also brings together an extraordinary array of never-before-seen archival documents- family diaries, notes, letters and scrapbooks; school and university reports; cabinet, departmental and vice-regal papers; party strategy documents, polling and caucus minutes; and secret correspondence and meeting records between Hawke and other Cold War leaders.
'Troy Bramston, an award-winning and best-selling author, tells the remarkable story of Hawke's upbringing and education, the people and events that shaped him, his rise through the union movement, his complex personality and personal life marked by womanising and the demon drink, his nine-year government from 1983 to 1991, plus his post-prime ministerial life and legacy.
'This book is about the real Hawke, chronicling the stunning triumphs and shocking failures, a life riddled with huge flaws and great virtues marked by redemption and reinvention, which changed Australia and shaped the world. Revelatory and compelling, it will shock and surprise those who think they know the story of the Australia's most popular prime minister.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
y
Troy Bramston in Conversation
2022
24658908
2022
single work
podcast
interview
'Journalist Troy Bramston discusses his latest book, Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny.'
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The Two Bobs’ Worth
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5 March 2022; (p. 17)
— Review of Bob Hawke : Demons and Destiny 2022 single work biography'Labor prime minister Bob Hawke was a great man on the world stage but a bad man on the home front, according to a new biography by Troy Bramston, writes Caroline Overington Troy Bramston remembers the last interview he did with Bob Hawke, the one that turned out to be the last ever.' (Introduction)
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The Man in the Mirror : Texture and Nuance in the New Biography of Bob Hawke
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 441 2022; (p. 12-13)
— Review of Bob Hawke : Demons and Destiny 2022 single work biography 'Curators at old Parliament House – now known as the Museum for Australian Democracy – have for many years maintained the prime minister’s suite much as it was when Bob Hawke vacated it in 1988. Visitors can gaze at a reproduction of the Arthur Boyd painting that hung opposite Hawke’s desk, gawk at the enormous, faux-timber panelled telephone Hawke used, and cast a wry eye over the prime ministerial bathroom, where curators have laid on the vanity toiletries and accoutrements belonging to the office’s last occupant: a box of contact lenses, a pair of black shoelaces, and a tube of hair dye.' (Introduction)
-
The Man in the Mirror : Texture and Nuance in the New Biography of Bob Hawke
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 441 2022; (p. 12-13)
— Review of Bob Hawke : Demons and Destiny 2022 single work biography 'Curators at old Parliament House – now known as the Museum for Australian Democracy – have for many years maintained the prime minister’s suite much as it was when Bob Hawke vacated it in 1988. Visitors can gaze at a reproduction of the Arthur Boyd painting that hung opposite Hawke’s desk, gawk at the enormous, faux-timber panelled telephone Hawke used, and cast a wry eye over the prime ministerial bathroom, where curators have laid on the vanity toiletries and accoutrements belonging to the office’s last occupant: a box of contact lenses, a pair of black shoelaces, and a tube of hair dye.' (Introduction) -
The Two Bobs’ Worth
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5 March 2022; (p. 17)
— Review of Bob Hawke : Demons and Destiny 2022 single work biography'Labor prime minister Bob Hawke was a great man on the world stage but a bad man on the home front, according to a new biography by Troy Bramston, writes Caroline Overington Troy Bramston remembers the last interview he did with Bob Hawke, the one that turned out to be the last ever.' (Introduction)
-
y
Troy Bramston in Conversation
2022
24658908
2022
single work
podcast
interview
'Journalist Troy Bramston discusses his latest book, Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny.'
Awards
- 2022 shortlisted Australian Political Book of the Year Award