Julian Assange : the unauthorised autobiography

It is unusual, to say the least, to publish a book against the will of its author. That’s especially true when the manuscript is a first draft by a ghost writer.

Some readers may feel that Text’s decision to publish this book requires an explanation.

Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography is a portrait of a man who polarises opinion but who has also changed the world. Whether you read this book as a ghosted memoir or as a ‘literary interpretation of a conversation’ (which is how Assange himself describes it), it may be the most insightful and intimate account of him that we will ever have.

The voice that winds its way through these pages is unmistakeable. We believe that this book is essential to any informed view of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. We invite you to read it and make up your own mind.

Text Publishing,
September 2011

Praise for Julian Assange:

‘An intriguing self-portrait … Assange reveals a lot about himself … Well worth reading … Although Mr Assange makes an easy target, he has interesting things to say, however controversial. And the world does sometimes need such annoying, single-minded people to move forward. Mr Assange and his creation, WikiLeaks, have made it a more open and transparent place, and hence a bit more just.’

The Economist

‘Surpisingly revealing. It reminds us of the huge amount Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have contributed to this epochal time and how important is the principle of free publication. The most fascinating part is what Assange objects to: the personal stuff… Remarkably candid.’ Read the full review here.

The Observer

‘But the author of this book, and let’s call him Assange for brevity’s sake, has erased that caricature and produced a compelling portrait of a brave, complex, difficult, brilliant and essentially humane individual. Assange is not easy to like but his intellectual gifts, his moral courage and his carelessness of his own physical safety make him impossible not to admire.’

The Spectator

‘Without doubt one of the books of the year, Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography seems destined to join The Jerilderie Letter and Chopper From the Inside as a leading example of Australian underground autobiography. Like Ned Kelly and Mark Brandon Read, Assange is all the more compelling because he is an author in the raw; a loner alienated from society who, almost in spite of himself, has a fierce need for self-expression.’

Sydney Morning Herald

‘It is not hard to see why Assange is now fretting that, in this text, beautifully crafted by Andrew O'Hagan, he has given away too much of himself and said too little about his mission. That is exactly what makes the book such an engrossing read.’ Read the full review here.

The Independent

‘He [Assange] is one of those rare and extraordinary figures who has made possible things of which only madmen dream of. He is the Napoleon of the internet, of the new journalism, and… a deeply intelligent custodian of the truth. Indeed he has an extraordinary faith in the power of the truth to make us whole. It is already true (though we are only part of the way into his story) that he is one of the most extraordinary outlaws who has ever lived. I suppose we also have to get used to the idea that, like it or lump it, he is also already one of the greatest Australians. The Donald Bradman of disclosure.

Read this book. It is an extraordinary recapitulation of the voice of an extraordinary man. Its ghosts and demons will keep you up past the dawn.‘
Read the full review here.

Peter Craven, The Drum

‘Assange takes life in large noisy bites, chews with his mouth open, and doesn’t stop to clean up the plates….thrilling and illuminating.’

Metro magazine