In this sometimes moving, often entertaining, and always lucid memoir Gareth Evans looks back over the highs and lows of his public life as a student activist, civil libertarian, law reformer, industry minister, international policymaker, educator and politician. He explains why it is that, despite multiple disappointments, he continues to believe that a safer, saner and more decent world is achievable, and why, for all its frustrations, politics remains an indispensable profession not only for megalomaniacs but idealists. Hear this compelling speaker in conversation with Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor.

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Incorrigible Optimist Gareth Evans

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Gareth Evans has been applauded worldwide for his contributions, both as Foreign Minister and in later international roles, to conflict resolution, genocide prevention and curbing weapons of mass destruction. Gareth is now Chancellor of the Australian National University, was a member of the Australian Parliament for 21 years, and a cabinet minister throughout the Hawke–Keating era. He has written or edited, solely or jointly, 12 other books, including Australia’s Constitution: Time for Change (1983), Australia’s Foreign Relations (1995), The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All (2008), and Inside the Hawke–Keating Government: A Cabinet Diary (2014).

Lenore Taylor is Guardian Australia's editor. She has won two Walkley awards and has twice won the Paul Lyneham award for excellence in press gallery journalism. She co-authored a book, Shitstorm, on the Rudd government's response to the global economic crisis.