Photo ©2007 AFP Photo/William West

"Really, it’s getting a bit like old men croaking like cane toads.” - Bill Hayden

The release of Bob Hawke’s latest biography, penned by wife Blanche d'Alpuget, has stoked the coals in the fire of the long-running feud between Hawke and his successor Paul Keating.

After reading an extract in The Weekend Australian which described him as having “little formal education,” Keating composed a three-page letter to Hawke. He had intended to keep it between himself and Hawke, but after reading the whole book on Tuesday, he decided to release the missive.

Keating, who served as treasurer under Hawke before ousting him in 1991, said Hawke  went “missing” and he had "carried” him “through the whole 1984 – 1987 parliament” while he was suffering from depression after finding out his daughter Rosslyn had used heroin in 1984.

“The fact is, Bob, I was exceedingly kind to you for a very long time…[your] emotional and intellectual malaise lasted for years,” Keating said. "It is as if, Narcissus-like, you cannot find enough praise to heap upon yourself."

Hawke has said Keating  is "bitter" about the past but has insisted he holds no grudge against him, while Blanche has said she likes Paul, despite the infamous feud between him and Hawke.