A long-listed finalist for the 2009 Walkley non-fiction book of the year
Gough Whitlam: A moment in history is a definitive biographical study of the controversial former Labor Prime Minister. Drawing on previously unexamined material Jenny Hocking presents a biography capable of producing a more complete understanding of the complexities and fallibilities of Gough Whitlam.
The biography provides a critical examination of Whitlam’s family history, including his Grandfather's four-and-a-half years of hard labour served in Pentridge Prison for forgery; information hitherto unkown to even Whitlam himself!
From family history Hocking moves to examine Whitlam’s early childhood in Canberra, his war service in the Pacific, and finally his rise through the Australian Labor Party and into government.
Jenny Hocking, research professor in the National Centre for Australian studies at Monash University, offers a work which is meticulously researched and skilfully narrated to provide an extraordinary account of a man who changed the face of Australian politics.
The original interviews with Gough Whitlam, his family members and a series of Australian political figures, have all been included in the National Library of Australia’s oral history, giving credibility to Hocking’s critical exploration of Whitlam’s life. Such interviews with Gough himself provide Hocking’s book with the anecdotal energy missing from so many previous accounts of his life.
From Whitlam’s early days in government he faced difficulties from the Senate and from Labor’s own lack of experience in the mechanics of government. Whitlam’s rollercoaster three years in charge finally came crashing down when John Kerr, the Governor-General dismissed him from Government.
Hocking's book is an authoritative guide to the path that led Gough Whitlam to power, and by giving extensive details of his earlier years it provides readers with the ability to understand what made him the leader he was.
Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History is published by Melbourne University Press, RRP $34.99
Review by Harrison Tippet, a first-year journalism student at RMIT University, Melbourne and intern with the Walkley Foundation.
