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John Winston Howard: The Biography
The most incisive analysis of John Howard's life and political career yet published, and now fully updated.
Published into critical acclaim and controversy in 2007, and rated by The Wall Street Journal Asia as the best biography of 2007, John Winston Howard is a revealing study of the four-term Prime Minister who led Australia through some of its defining moments.
In more than 100 interviews with a wide range of Howard's family and contemporaries, including Malcolm Fraser, Janette Howard, Andrew Peacock, Alexander Downer, Peter Costello and Kevin Rudd, we see first hand how Howard approaches life and politics.
Published into critical acclaim and controversy in 2007, and rated by The Wall Street Journal Asia as the best biography of 2007, John Winston Howard is a revealing study of the four-term Prime Minister who led Australia through some of its defining moments.
In more than 100 interviews with a wide range of Howard's family and contemporaries, including Malcolm Fraser, Janette Howard, Andrew Peacock, Alexander Downer, Peter Costello and Kevin Rudd, we see first hand how Howard approaches life and politics.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 19, 2018
Perhaps too opinionated.
Very well written, I found this book intriguing and revealing.
Although slow starting I was hooked only several chapters in. If you want to learn about Australia’s greatest PM, read this book.
Very well written, I found this book intriguing and revealing.
Although slow starting I was hooked only several chapters in. If you want to learn about Australia’s greatest PM, read this book.
January 4, 2024
Wayne Errington's attempt at capturing the essence of John Howard in "The Biography" is nothing short of a literary travesty, an agonizing exercise in sycophantic verbosity that leaves the reader questioning the sanity of anyone involved in its publication. This colossal waste of paper could easily double as a sleep aid, and if I could sue for the hours of my life lost to this drivel, I would.
Errington's prose, if one could be so generous as to call it that, is as compelling as a shopping list. The narrative lacks any semblance of dynamism, meandering through Howard's life with the enthusiasm of a sloth on sedatives. It's an indescribable achievement to make the political career of a former Prime Minister sound more mundane than watching paint dry, yet Errington manages this feat with remarkable ineptitude.
The biography's blatant lack of critical engagement with Howard's policies and decisions is akin to offering a eulogy for a mannequin. Any pretense of objectivity is thrown out the window, replaced by an uncritical adulation that borders on the absurd. It's as if Errington took a masterclass in hagiography and forgot that the subject was a politician, not a saint.
The attempt to humanize Howard falls flat, revealing a cardboard cutout of a man who supposedly led a nation. The anecdotes presented are as riveting as a boiled cabbage, failing to offer any insight into Howard's character beyond the fact that he apparently enjoyed cricket and wore glasses. If this is the best that can be said about a leader's personal life, one wonders why bother writing a biography at all.
In conclusion, "John Winston Howard: The Biography" is an insult to the literary world, a monument to mediocrity, and a disservice to anyone seeking a genuine understanding of Australian political history. Wayne Errington should be held accountable for subjecting readers to this excruciating exercise in hero-worship, and the only reasonable purpose for this book is as a cautionary tale for aspiring biographers on how not to approach their craft.
Errington's prose, if one could be so generous as to call it that, is as compelling as a shopping list. The narrative lacks any semblance of dynamism, meandering through Howard's life with the enthusiasm of a sloth on sedatives. It's an indescribable achievement to make the political career of a former Prime Minister sound more mundane than watching paint dry, yet Errington manages this feat with remarkable ineptitude.
The biography's blatant lack of critical engagement with Howard's policies and decisions is akin to offering a eulogy for a mannequin. Any pretense of objectivity is thrown out the window, replaced by an uncritical adulation that borders on the absurd. It's as if Errington took a masterclass in hagiography and forgot that the subject was a politician, not a saint.
The attempt to humanize Howard falls flat, revealing a cardboard cutout of a man who supposedly led a nation. The anecdotes presented are as riveting as a boiled cabbage, failing to offer any insight into Howard's character beyond the fact that he apparently enjoyed cricket and wore glasses. If this is the best that can be said about a leader's personal life, one wonders why bother writing a biography at all.
In conclusion, "John Winston Howard: The Biography" is an insult to the literary world, a monument to mediocrity, and a disservice to anyone seeking a genuine understanding of Australian political history. Wayne Errington should be held accountable for subjecting readers to this excruciating exercise in hero-worship, and the only reasonable purpose for this book is as a cautionary tale for aspiring biographers on how not to approach their craft.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews