Judith Brett: The Enigmatic Mr Deakin

In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Judith Brett, the acclaimed political historian, chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. This biography of Alfred Deakin, Australia’s second Prime Minister, won the 2018 National Biography Award. 

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode: 

• Judith Brett shares with us why she titled her biography The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. 
• Judith explains why she opened The Enigmatic Mr Deakin with a comparison between the notorious outlaw Ned Kelly and our second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin. 
• Judith describes her painstaking research strategy and its complexities. 
• She reveals how she achieved a unique synthesis of Deakin’s public life with his beliefs, doubts, private struggles and spiritual wrestling. 
• Judith also reveals how she balanced technical details of politics and parliament to craft an engaging narrative for readers who might not have a political background.

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