Behind every great man there is a public servant. Allan Griffith advised six Australian Prime Ministers on foreign policy. Annabel Miller and John Williams find out what makes a mandarin tick.

The Bersani of today developed from the student who used to go with his friends to the poorer parts of town every Sunday to see what they could do.

I found relationships with girls difficult and withdrew into myself. My life became whatever was before my nose - and that was chess.

When you talk about corruption, people often say: `How can I be honest when everyone else is dishonest?'

A short story by Alan Thornhill

The Kriegs describe the year that their daughter was addicted as the lowest point of their married life.

Two days after the wedding they sat and looked at each other in an empty room: `Why have we got married? There is nothing to make a life with.'

Life in such isolation, on a land area less than five miles by one, acquires a certain focus on the essentials, an acceptance of shortage, discomfort and monotony.

Taken hostage? How would you cope?The knock on the door, the knife or bullet, the disappearance,the interrogation - it might happen anywhere, from Irelandto Argentina, in London or Paris as well as Beirut.For Jean Waddell it happened in Tehran. Seven years later she talks about her experiences to 'For A Change'.by Mary Lean

My wife and I come from a background of privilege and Protestantism - and are grateful for our heritage. But we have to face the fact that many react quite differently to that tradition.