'The author doggedly pursued the Labor leader for an interview for six months. Finally, half an hour after after Stuart had hit the button to send his final chapter to the publisher, Rudd's office phoned to agree to an interview.

This is the defining difference between the two books. One, Macklin's, is a faithful recounting of Rudd's own version of events; the other, Stuart's, depends on good research and fair-minded analysis. One is happy-clapping; the other is a serious attempt at a biography within the inevitable constraint that it chronicles a life half-lived.'

' … deprived of the easy route, Stuart has worked harder than Macklin and done more digging. Stuart's warts-and-all study makes Rudd a much more interesting and well-rounded figure, and is likely to do him more good.'

'… Nick Stuart had no access and no interview … and others were discouraged from speaking to him. He has had to make greater use of the public record and the comments of people, some unwilling to be named, who have worked with Rudd.'

'Stuart is far more comprehensive, thorough and balanced than Macklin on Rudd's political life. His is, after all, a "political biography" ...

He also provides a much more nuanced account of Rudd's role in the machinations of the Labor party in this troubled period in the party's history, and has a better grasp of the factional architecture of the party. His analysis of how Rudd and Julia Gillard stymied each other's ambitions, allowing Beazley an unopposed succession when Latham's leadership imploded in early 2005, is acute and engrossing, as is his examination of how, when the two young rivals came together in late 2006, Beazley's ailing leadership was doomed.'

'[Stuart] ... was rudely jilted. There is less bliss but more analysis and healthy cynicism in Stuart's book.'