The first 124 years of Australian nationhood has produced 31 Prime Ministers – a rich cast of characters diverse in personality, background, ability and achievement. From Edmund Barton to Anthony Albanese, they share (even the more unlikely of them) a common drive for power. Intelligence, imagination, nous, stamina, guts – this is what it takes to handle this unique job successfully – and, usually, a dash of luck. In practice, no leader can bring or sustain all those qualities and that gives a ring of sadness to many of the profiles that follow. More positively, each Prime Minister reflects in some significant way the Australia of the times; through their stories we read our history, and it has its share of heroes.