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.

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

[Joe Bourke · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Andrew Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Vannessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying read.