Jim Cairns is a familiar sight around the markets of Melbourne, seated at a table stacked with copies of his latest book. It seems an unlikely occupation for a man who was once the driving force and major thinker in the Labor Party Left--a man who reached the positions of deputy prime minister and treasurer in Australia’s most reformist government under Gough Whitlam …

1. 'The victim of a great wrong', 1914-1931 -- 2. 'An intellectual seeker', 1932-1947 -- 3. Political Apprentice, 1948-1955-- 4. The Member for Yarra, 1956-1964-- 5. Vietnam: The Great Moral Crusade, 1962-1967 -- 6. 'A symbol of participatory democracy', 1968-1970 -- 7. 'feelings of profound disillusionment', 1970-1972 --8. A 'New Jim Cairns'? 1972-1974 -- 9. Ruin and Liberation, 1974-1975 -- 10. 'Some wacko theory', 1976-1990.

Includes index.
Bibliography: p. 439-451.