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Diary of a confidant to Hawke and Keating

by
December 2014, no. 367

Inside the Hawke–Keating Government: A cabinet diary by Gareth Evans

Melbourne University Press, $49.99 hb, 432 pp

Diary of a confidant to Hawke and Keating

by
December 2014, no. 367

Gough Whitlam was fond of replying to requests for interviews from historians by saying that all the answers could be found in the archives. ‘Go to the documents, comrade’, was his refrain. However, official documents rarely tell the whole story, particularly those from the modern era, whose authors are conscious that their words could so easily be exposed to public scrutiny. In particular, they are usually bereft of the innermost thoughts and motivations of the politicians and public servants. By contrast, politicians’ diaries can be goldmines. Written contemporaneously, an unguarded diary entry can transform our understanding of people and events.

David Day reviews 'Inside the Hawke–Keating Government: A cabinet diary' by Gareth Evans

Inside the Hawke–Keating Government: A cabinet diary

by Gareth Evans

Melbourne University Press, $49.99 hb, 432 pp

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