The Enigmatic Mr Deakin

‘A richly rewarding excursion into the private mind and emotions but also into the public life and times of a remarkable individual, full of surprising detail and profound observations about the Australian polity…Among the very best political biographies written in Australia.’

Judges’ Comments, National Biography Award, 2018

‘Alfred Deakin, long my favourite Victorian, was truly the full package: polymath, progressive, idealist, spiritualist, man of action. And he had a fantastic beard. All he lacked was a good biography—but not anymore.’

Saturday Paper, Best Books of 2017

‘Judith Brett achieves something rare in political biography: a synthesis of the public life with the beliefs, doubts, private struggles, and spiritual inquiry that made The Enigmatic Mr Deakin our most intriguing prime minister.’

James Walter, Australian Book Review

‘Brett is a gifted interpreter of politics, past and present, and a sensitive reader of people, individually and en masse. That she has been able to encompass The Enigmatic Mr Deakin in fewer than 500 pages, compared with double that of most “landmark” biographies, attests to a rare kind of writerly judgement: for discerning where the story lies and, crucially, for knowing what can be left out.’

Saturday Paper

‘Truly one of the great political biographies of our time, a delicately nuanced, warm and insightful account of — my personal misgivings aside — one of the most noteworthy political figures in Australian history.’

Inside Story

‘Brett’s writing is capable of extraordinary clarity, insight and compassion.’

Mark McKenna, The Monthly