Robert Manne: A Political Memoir: Intellectual Combat in the Cold War and the Culture Wars

by Robert Manne

The recollections of Australia's leading public intellectual
Robert Manne is one of Australia's most profound political analysts. His memoir traces his intellectual roots, revealing how his family background and early years informed the questions he would spend his life trying to answer. It also provides a fascinating portrait of key political controversies, including intellectual combat over communism, Quadrant, the Stolen Generations, the Murdoch press, Manning Clark and much more.


During the Cold War and the culture wars, Manne clashed with some of the most influential thinkers and writers – Noam Chomsky, Les Murray, Leonie Kramer, Tom Keneally, Helen Darville, Keith Windschuttle, Chris Mitchell and Andrew Bolt. This memoir recounts what happened and why.


Often subverting conventional notions of left and right, Manne is an original thinker who has helped shape the nation's discourse for decades. This is the inside story of a life of engagement and reflection, and a book for anyone interested in the shape and meaning of the past nearly fifty years of politics.

Genres: Australia

575 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2024

About the author

Robert Manne is emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. His recent books include On Borrowed Time, Making Trouble: Essays Against the New Complacency, and The Words that Made Australia (as co-editor). He has written three Quarterly Essays and is a regular contributor to the Monthly and the Guardian.

Reviews

[Benjamin Farr]

Robert Manne has been at the centre of many of Australia's most significant political and cultural debates, and this memoir is as much a history of those battles as it is the story of his own intellectual journey, including his shift from the political right to the left.
At times, however, the memoir feels less like a reflection on his life and ideas and more like an attempt to settle old scores. The lengthy discussions of critics and past disputes occasionally become repetitive and detract from the broader narrative.
That said, this memoir is thoroughly researched, well written, and offers an insightful account of the political and intellectual debates that have shaped modern Australia. Even when I disagreed with his conclusions (especially his misguided views on Israel), I appreciated the opportunity to better understand the experiences and arguments that led him to his views on Australia and the world.
Overall, I found this to be a worthwhile read. You certainly don't have to agree with Manne to get something out of the book, and there is real value in engaging with thoughtful arguments, even when you ultimately reject them.

[Joe Bourke]

Fantastic. Insightful and taught me a lot about how we got to where we are in Australian political debate. The Monthly’s review of Manne as “the man who stood still” is a better review than I could give so not going to even try. But it was inspiring to read a book by someone who stuck to their clear moral compass and relied on research and considered debate throughout their illustrious career.

[Greg]

A must-read for Robert Manne fans. Explains the development of his intellectual life.

[Andrew Norton]

I have review this book in a blog post, https://andrewnorton.info/2024/12/31/...

[Vannessa]

A very satisfying read.