The narrative on the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd period from 2007 to 2013 is familiar, both because I followed these events closely at the time and because Kelly's perspective on them very closely reflects - indeed is indistinguishable from - that of the News Corp press. Probably through a combination of those things, it comes across as at once a near-definitive account of one perspective on that turbulent period and unlikely to represent a true last word on them, even should such a thing be possible - one feels that there's still much more to be said to give a full accounting, including some that will only be possible with the benefit of perspective lent by greater distance and seeing how this next term or two plays out.
As an aside, while books about/of politics are all too easy to plough through, I suspect it's unhealthy for me to read too many. A couple of weeks ago over dinner, I scribbled a possible 'healthy reading diet' pyramid (like the old food pyramid, the metaphor's mixed and doesn't actually represent ascension towards the apex!) - in which books on politics would only be a small component of what I've called social sciences (also comprising popular economics, behavioural insights, history, etc).
As an aside, while books about/of politics are all too easy to plough through, I suspect it's unhealthy for me to read too many. A couple of weeks ago over dinner, I scribbled a possible 'healthy reading diet' pyramid (like the old food pyramid, the metaphor's mixed and doesn't actually represent ascension towards the apex!) - in which books on politics would only be a small component of what I've called social sciences (also comprising popular economics, behavioural insights, history, etc).
