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Keeper of the faith : a biography of Jim Cairns
By Paul Strangio
Carlton South, Vic. : Melbourne University Press, 2002
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Book description
Jim Cairns, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, is a
familiar sight around the markets of Melbourne, seated at a card table
stacked with copies of his latest book. It's an unlikely occupation for
a man who was once the major thinker and driving force behind the ideals
and policies of Australia's most reformist government.
During the Moratoriums against the Vietnam War, Cairns provided a political
education to a large section of the baby-boomer generation. To some,
he is a tragic fallen hero; to others, a somewhat pathetic figure.
In this mature and sophisticated biography, Paul Strangio reveals a consistent
thread running through the apparent contradictions of Cairns's career.
He explains how a policeman turned into a counter-culture guru; how an
opponent of capitalism became Minister for Trade; how a devoted husband
could feel 'a kind of love' for Juni Morosi.
Both highly readable and carefully researched, Keeper of the Faith reassesses
the part Cairns played in shaping Australian public life. In tracing
his ideological and political rivalry with Gough Whitlam, it challenges
the orthodox view of Whitlam as a hero of the Left.
Strangio argues that Cairns's contributions to public life have been
seriously underestimated. Drawing on a rich range of archival and oral
sources, and recounting many fascinating anecdotes, this is a masterly
portrait of one of those rare people who never stop in their quest for
truth.
About the author
Dr Paul Strangio describes himself as one of the new breed of
academic nomads. He has taught Australian politics and history at Deakin
University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University of
Technology and Monash University. He is the author of No Toxic Dump!:
Contesting Corporate and Government Power (2001) and co-editor, with
Peter Love, of Arguing the Cold War (2001). He is a regular radio
commentator on politics, and contributor to Australia's leading literary
and political magazines.
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