Ever since Ontario’s Tory dynasty collapsed in 1985, voters have gyrated wildly in their choices of personalities and ideologies.

From bland Bill Davis to dashing David Peterson. From erstwhile socialist Bob Rae to far-right Mike Harris. Followed by a decade of “Premier Dad” Dalton McGuinty (with brief appearances by Frank Miller, Ernie Eves and Kathleen Wynne).

Why would Ontario voters shift so dramatically from one extreme to another, from one election to the next? What could our last eight premiers possibly have in common?

On the surface, not much. Dig a little deeper — and read between the lines of the latest book from Steve Paikin — and a common thread emerges.

For the most part, they were uncommonly authentic, argues the long-serving host of TVO’s The Agenda. Not all of them at all times. But after interviewing each of these premiers on the air, and getting to know them behind the scenes, Paikin shares his insights from up close.

“Above all else, genuine authenticity,” he writes. “They knew who they were and didn’t try to package themselves into something they weren’t.”

Paikin and the Premiers is his retrospective, from the interviewer’s chair, on the past half-century of Ontario politics. The book is based on his TVO interviews with premiers from Davis to Wynne, with added from perspective from Paikin after the fact.

Taken together, the interviews and commentary form an impressive historical resource. It’s like sitting back to watch a highlights reel of Paikin’s most revealing interviews with these eight premiers before, during, and after their terms in power.

The timing of those interviews is critical: You can’t help but notice how much more these politicians aim to please when campaigning for the job, versus their predictable caution while in office, compared to their post-partum candour when Paikin corners them for exit interviews.

By stitching these interviews together in one book, Paikin shines a spotlight on the perennials that keep coming back to haunt every new premier, no matter which party or what point in time: The economy, budget deficits, taxes, busting up the LCBO and beer distribution, separate school funding, cutting auto insurance, slashing business subsidies, fixing electricity pricing, dealing with doctors, taking on the unions (especially teachers). And making minority government work.

The premiers could certainly learn from one another’s past mistakes. It quickly becomes apparent from Paikin’s book that they have, indeed, reached out across the partisan divide in surprising ways. Rae consulted regularly with his secret friend, Davis, as did Peterson; Harris reached out to Rae, who even wrote part of a speech for him; McGuinty regularly turned to Davis and Peterson for advice.

One of Paikin’s proudest achievements is the historic group interview he conducted with four past premiers in his TVO studio, bringing together longtime adversaries Peterson, Rae and Harris, plus his ill-fated successor, Eves. It wasn’t easy getting them all in the same room at the same time, but any enmity was forgotten amidst the bonhomie.

The book humanizes the premiers — we hear from Harris about his inferiority complex towards the establishment (of which he is now part), and his jitters before the first campaign debate. Paikin reminds us that the combative former premier was twice elected with a remarkable 45 per cent of the vote (more than Davis or the others ever won).

Despite Paikin’s admiration for Rae’s abilities, the then-NDP premier comes across as chippy and combative on air, repeatedly berating his interviewer for not “doing your homework,” or accusing him of being a Harris apologist.

McGuinty is unfailingly polite, but you can’t help chuckling at his protestations ahead of the 2011 election: unfinished business compels him to run again; yet barely a year later he tells Paikin why he is suddenly finished with the business of politics.

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This is not a salacious tell-all book, for the simple reason that it is mostly a collection of the premiers’ own words — and they tend to be all talk, no tell. But it is a primer for future premiers, present-day columnists, and any interested voter who wants to understand how and why leaders take decisions on the perennial issues facing the province.