BOOK REVIEW Throughout his public life, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been almost predictably unpredictable.

He has delighted in being a maverick, breaking the rules whenever they appeared to make no sense, or got in his way. It was often politically risky and required courage, but it also glorified his image and caught his rivals off balance at times, opening opportunities that Mahathir seized.

His 843-page book, ‘A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’, falls into this pattern.

At 85 years of age, Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister might be expected to reflect on the past, answer critics while underlining his achievements, mull unmet goals and mistakes, and no doubt settle a few scores but generally make peace with adversaries.

Not Mahathir...