This the only authorized biography of New Zealand's prime minister, Robert Muldoon—one of the dominant political figures of the last half-century in that country. Based on many hours of conversation with Muldoon himself as well as colleagues, friends, and family, and wide access to the prime minister's official and private papers and diaries, this book has been awarded the Ian Wards Prize for published historical writing. Muldoon is shown as a champion of the ordinary people whose vision over time became anachronistic and inflexible. The book is also a fascinating picture of New Zealand's changing political landscape from the 1940s to the 1980s.