• Judith Brett’s new biography of Alfred Deakin, The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, reveals the intense inner world of one of Australia’s most important political figures
• Alfred Deakin was a key political player in the achievement of Federation and the consolidation of white Australia, and a catalyst for the formation of Australia’s durable two-party system
• Brett brings Deakin’s public political, inner religious and private domestic lives together within a single narrative framework
• The biography also explores Deakin’s family relationships, his lifelong interest in religion and youthful involvement in spiritualism
• The Enigmatic Mr Deakin helps us understand how Deakin shaped the country we live in today, and the lessons he could teach us about how to handle unstable parliaments
• This is the first accessible biography of Deakin in a long time. pp. 490 illusts First Edition #1119