The former Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Sir Edward Woodward, looks back on his life-both public and private-from a childhood during World War II to the present day. He recounts memories of his education at Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne University; his experiences as a young lawyer; his illustrious legal career as he rose from barrister to Queen's Counsel to judge; his appointment as head of ASIO between 1976 and 1981; his continuing relationship with Melbourne University, as lecturer in the Law School and as chancellor throughout the 1990s. In the background, but as notable, are the achievements of his family life - as son, husband, father and grandfather. Over the decades, Woodward was involved in some of the most significant Royal Commissions that were held, including the investigation into Aboriginal Land Rights, and mixed with the prominent legal and political figures of the period, such as Billy Snedden, John Kerr, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam. In ONE BRIEF INTERVAL, he casts a clear and perceptive eye over people, power and politics in Australia in the past fifty years.