' The Longest Decade avoids the scattergun approach of The Howard Factor, effectively analysing the Keating and Howard years from 1990 to 2005.… Megalogenis supports interesting generalisations with sourced data to give the reader the sense of rigour one wants when comparing governments. … Of the two books, The Longest Decade is the superior read. It is more interesting and, unlike the edited collection The Howard Factor, there is a common thread throughout, well supported by hard facts.'
Peter Van Onselen and Wayne Errington, Australian Journal of Political Science
‘sophisticated and engaging ... a well-researched and unbiased book. Four stars.’
Richard Baz, Bookseller & Publisher
'The author inhabited the Canberra press gallery for the years from 1988 to 1999 and knows his economics. His analysis of what has happened to politics in this country blows out of the water once and for all the old absolutes of Left and Right …
'Megalogenis offers plenty of statistical detail to deliver a cogent picture of how our times were shaped; yet his book is far from a dry academic discourse. It is full of diverting anecdotes that bring the personality of Australian politics to life and reveal how much our democracy reflects the essential character of its people …
'Megalogenis has coined the most memorable epithet since "the lucky country". "Australia is a quarry with a view, " he suggests. "The danger of the Howard era is that, economically speaking, this is as good as it gets, and that the next generation will awaken to find it has a permanent underclass in its midst."
Guy Humphreys, Boss magazine, Australian Financial Review
'Megalogenis offers plenty of statistical detail to deliver a cogent picture of how our times were shaped; yet his book is far from a dry academic discourse. It is full of diverting anecdotes that bring the personality of Australian politics to life and reveal how much our democracy reflects the essential character of its people.'
Guy Humphreys, Boss Magazine, Australian Financial Review
‘Journalist George Megalogenis weaves together the major social, political and economic events of the past decade to produce an interesting appraisal of Australian society.’
Danielle Cronin, Canberra Times
'It’s like Costello clocked on in 1996 and knocked off in 2007 and, when asked what was going on, said "don’t ask me mate, I just work here." Anyone wanting a considered analysis of what the Howard years meant will for now have to rely on George Megalogenis’s The Longest Decade, which does a superb job of explaining how Australia changed under Keating and then Howard. In Costello’s telling, the Hawke-Keating years were an unmitigated disaster and a personal affront, given he had to clean up the mess.'
Bernard Keane, on The Costello Memoirs, crikey.com
'Megalogenis's book is a thoroughly enjoyable portrait of the 1990s as a decade and as the first real attempt to view the Keating–Howard years in tandem: an important work of Australian political history, accessible to the casual reader and academic historian alike.'
Richard Scully, Eras
'As a general rule, journalists write some of the best books on Australian politics and this one is no exception. But The Longest Decade stands out more for the insight it offers into John Howard and Paul Keating's political priorities and the way both perceive Australian society and core values.'
Haydon Manning, Flinders Journal of History and Politics, vol 23, 2006
‘This is an excellent history bursting with policy and personal detail. Megalogenis’ political preferences are discernible, but it does not hinder the enjoyment of a brilliant exposé.’
Andrew McIntyre, IPA Review
‘an irresistible read for political junkies.’
Labour Herald
'written in clear, jargon-free prose, The Longest Decade is required reading for anyone who wants to understand who we've become, and why.'
Jose Borghino, Marie Claire
‘a very useful history of Australian federal politics in the 1990s'
Stephen Jolly, Socialist Party of Australia.org
‘a strongly argued tale of the supremacy of two starkly different but interlocked characters — the slightly mad genius of Paul Keating and the plodding but surprisingly radical John Howard — who shaped who we are now as a nation.’
Kerry-Anne Walsh, Sun Herald
Megalogenis’ ‘book is easy to read and carefully researched and has long interviews with each of the men ... I enjoyed his book.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Megalogenis’s book has much valuable economic and social analysis, along with interviews with Howard and Keating where each talks about his view of the other ... Howard and Keating seem to have taken to conversing with one another through Megalogenis.’
Gerard Henderson, Sydney Morning Herald
‘a complex, closely woven book that is packed with information ... this book is a good read for those wanting to understand two politicians who have made a real difference to modern Australia.’
Michelle Grattan, The Age
‘The Longest Decade promises to set a new benchmark for books about politics ... the bar will be raised for those who follow.’
Paul Daley, The Bulletin
'[From Megalogenis] you get acute social observation, street-cred cultural criticism, political nous, personal anecdote, ethnic punditry and a savvy dissection of changes in capital gains tax. There's a sense that Megalogenis — a former Canberra Press Gallery fixture who’s never lost touch with the pulse of life in the suburbs — remembers everything and wastes nothing. It shows in his revealing interrogations of the two big-picture fellas.'
Time Magazine
'It must be read by anyone who wants to be literate in contemporary politics.'
Solomon Wakeling, webdiary
'[George Megalogenis] has done something quite remarkable: on the one hand he has produced a scholarly, yet first-hand, understanding of the Paul Keating–Howard years and on the other he has fashioned a riveting analysis of Australia’s recent political and cultural history ... This book is a brilliant primer for those who wish to understand the Keating years and Australia under Howard.’
Ross Fitzgerald, Weekend Australian
