He has written or edited thirteen books, one of them a novel, another a family memoir and the remainder all focusing on one or other aspect of Australian history, politics and education.
The Reshaping of Australia, published in 2005, was widely discussed, and his books on the Country Party and on Australian political behaviour are now authoritative.
Don Aitkin became well known in Australia in the 1970s, both as a widely read columnist in the now defunct National Times and as a television commentator.
Born in 1937 in Sydney, he has spent more than half his life in Canberra, where he was a Councillor of the Canberra Business Council for nearly twelve years, and is an Honorary Ambassador for the ACT, the Chairman of the NRMA/ACT Road Safety Trust, the Chairman of the Cultural Facilities Corporation, the President of Pro Musica Inc, and a member of the Ministerial Tourism Advisory Council.
He and his late wife Beverley, who served as a clinical nurse consultant and was in senior management roles at a Canberra hospital.