Alfred Deakin is known as one of the lead players in the federation of the Australian colonies/states. However, this book does a great job in describing so much about the life of Deakin, his early life in politics in Victoria, his engagement with spiritualism and religion, his relationship with his wife, his struggles with self-belief, and the political maneuverings in the early years of federation. ( )

A wonderful highly readable biography of Australia's second prime minister, whose contribution to Australia's development as a democratic society has sadly been largely forgotten. Alfred Deakin was an indeed an enigmatic individual, a quiet and thoughtful man who claimed to dislike politics, yet almost by accident found himself thrown into the fire as the great debate between free trade and protectionism which dominated Australia's first decade threatened to split the nation. Governments rose and fell on the floor of the Parliament as the still fluid party structure ebbed and flowed. Deakin found himself in and out of office as he gained the Prime Ministership on 3 separate occasions between 1902 and 1910, eventually forced to give politics away due to his failing memory and mental faculties, which would eventually kill him at a sadly early age. However, although the politics is fascinating the true heart of Deakin's story is his amazing inner life, which is wonderfully well documented due to his compulsive diarizing and note-taking. he comes across as a melancholy individual, highly spiritual although he disliked organised religion. He embraced Spiritualism early on, later moving to a more personalized individual faith, but struggled with questions of faith his whole life. Frequently depressed, he gained great solace from his marriage to Pattie, whom he loved deeply but secretly criticised in his diaries. He was torn apart by the ongoing feud between Pattie and his beloved sister, but found great comfort by taking refuge from his public life in the family's seaside cottage. I'm usually not enthralled with political biographies, but this is a superb read, about an interesting and thoughtful man who struggled conscientiously to do the best job he could for his young nation in difficult times. Highly recommended. ( )