In the last few pages of this book, Lange talks about how he travelled down to Dunedin to speak there in 2004, and of his great surprise that he, very ill at the time (he would die the following year) was able to get through his speech without help. I was there for that speech - Lange was one of NZ's great political orators, and I wasn't going to miss it - and it was shocking how poorly he looked. I remember feeling such sympathy for him, and I felt the same reading this book. Although there's flashes of that characteristic sense of humour and verbal flair it's clearly an effort. There's an air of exhaustion, a slow, tired winding down, and a growing awareness that the time for honest appraisal of his achievements is short. It's still an interesting read, however, and an accessible one... and never has the job of Prime Minister looked so unglamorous.