His Way: A Biography of Robert Muldoon Book

This is the major 'authorised' biography of the dominant figure in New Zealand's political life over the last half century. It has occupied Gustafson for ten years, has been extensively researched and has been long awaited. It is an enthralling read and will be of wide interest; the chapters on the calling of the 1984 election and on the currency crisis immediately after the election, for example, will be read with fascination. Gustafson's view of Muldoon is fair and tolerant without either anger or sentimentality. It sees him as a champion of ordinary people, a skilled politician determined to preserve the world he had inherited, and an autocratic leader whose vision over time became anachronistic and inflexible. His Way is also a picture of the changing political and economic landscape from the 1940s to the 1980s. The book is based on many hours of conversation with Muldoon himself and on interviews with political colleagues, civil servants, family and friends; it is rich with telling detail and revealing anecdote. Gustafson's masterly biography will provide for the first time a detached and detailed assessment of an extraordinary political figure.