In the second of two articles on The Latham Diaries David Burchell looks at the underlying tragedy revealed in the former Labor leader’s account of the past decade FILM CRITICS are fond of describing movies as ‘working on different levels’. Not infrequently, that seems to be an apology for that kind of laboured art film that ‘works’ on no level at all. At least since Mark Latham has redefined the genre, the term can serve well enough for Australian political memoirs. For Latham’s Diaries is a book that ‘works’ on several, quite strikingly distinct levels. Put briefly, it’s part premeditated score-settling, part immediate diary, and part extended political meditation. Latham himself desc...