Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott: prime minister in waiting.

David Marr: the nation’s leading biographer and investigative journalist.

In Quarterly Essay 47, David Marr goes beyond the cliches - Dr No, mad monk, gaffe-prone, budgie-smuggling gym junkie - to look at the man as he is and reveal what kind of prime minister he might be.

This is a unique portrait of a unique politician. Marr shows Abbott as part reactionary and part pragmatist, part fighter and part charmer, deeply religious and deeply political. But is Abbott a figure from the past or a leader for the future?

Following the explosive Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd, this is certain to be the most discussed political writing of the year.