Penguin Books Australia

As the 2010 federal election approaches, who better than Mungo MacCallum to guide us through the sweat and semantics of the campaign trail?

This typically fast-paced, witty and perceptive account follows Canberra's finest in action, peddling furiously between news cycles and racing from the pulpit to the mines in an effort to win over an increasingly sceptical electorate.

MacCallum considers Labor's eventful first term in office, from Copenhagen and the GFC to its dramatic eleventh-hour leadership change. He looks back on the Liberals' own series of leaders before the arrival of seasoned campaigner Tony Abbott and his no-holds-barred campaign to wrestle power from Julia Gillard, the first woman ever to lead the nation.

This is the essential account of the 2010 campaign from one of Australia's most entertaining and original writers.