Robert Manne has long been one of Australia’s leading intellectuals so any writing of his is welcome. Here, he lays out the background of some of the biggest events in Australian politics in the Twentieth Century, including the myriad splits in the Australian Labor Party, Federation and WWI Conscription.

While it is a useful book to read I sadly didn’t find it as captivating as good history books should. I recently read “Stalingrad” by Antony Beevor and I felt like I was in the trenches with the soldiers but I did not get the same feeling about the essays here. Still, this is well worth a read if you want to understand some of the key events that shaped Australia. ( )