Politicians' lives are public lives. The decisions they make and do not make, and the way they behave, affect us all and shape our lives.

To what extent do the inner lives of our leaders influence their performance? Should we know about the inner person? Indeed, how can we know?

The eight essays in this collection explore these questions and present some disturbing answers by scrutinising the 'character' of leaders as varied as Keating, Menzies, Hawke, Whitlam, Hasluck, Fraser, Calwell and Soeharto. Political Lives is an intriguing venture into the shadowy world of motives and values - and the inner past that shaped these leaders.