Performance Politics

Name: Performance Politics
Price: 39.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781761170836

Australian Politicians and Their Storytelling

Joshua Black

$39.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

NewSouth Publishing
01 September 2026

Political leaders & leadership

In Performance Politics historian and speechwriter Josh Black provides an eye-opening account of how Australian politicians have become experts at fashioning and refashioning stories about themselves, their lives, personal ambitions and political entanglements. Delving into memoirs, autobiographies, documentaries, media coverage, personal papers and original interviews, the book reveals how much of our recent political history has been delivered through the prism of the publishing house, the book launch, the documentary, and the lounge rooms where political retrospectives were broadcast. From a time when 'telling tales out of school' (as Billy Hughes once put it) was not the done thing, to one where the 2024 Nemesis documentary showcased backstabbing, character assassinations and high emotions.

Performance Politics shows how political life writing and documentary making has played an outsized role in creating the story-driven political culture of our times. Settling scores, shaping legacies and dramatising the democratic process, sometimes in shocking ways.

By: Joshua Black
Imprint: NewSouth Publishing
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9781761170836
ISBN 10: 176117083X
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 01 September 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Joshua Black is a political historian, speechwriter, policy researcher and media adviser and co-editor of Gold Standard? Remembering the Hawke Government (NewSouth).