Arguably Australia's most influential political journalist, Alan 'the red fox' Reid covered Australian politics from the 1930s to the 1980s. During his career he was both a chronicler of, and player in, Australian politics. In this book Ross Fitzgerald and Stephen Holt take us into a Machiavellian behind-the-scenes world of recurrent plots, crises and leadership challenges, and show how it was possible for a skilled journalist to help shape both public perceptions and actual outcomes of political power plays.

The Bandar-Log: A Labor Story of the 1950s is a fictionalised recreation of the great Labor split of the 1950s. This schism in Labor's ranks began in October 1954 when its erratic federal party leader Dr H.V. ("Doc") Evatt denounced the perceived influence wielded over the party by the anti-communist Catholic activist B.A. ("Bob") Santamaria. The resulting donnybrook involved personality clashes as well as ideological conflict. The messy saga featured a diverse array of participants including Catholic churchmen, trade union bosses, state premiers, state and federal Labor politicians and...