Swinney: My focus is on the future and Scotland – not Sturgeon's book
But he refused to comment on her claims about Alex Salmond, with the current SNP leader saying: 'For me, in my role today, and what I have got to do for Scotland just now, I have got focus on the country and the future.'
He insisted: 'That's what is driving everything I do in my political life, what is the future of Scotland, what is the best future for Scotland.
'That is what I am best to concentrate my thinking on.'
Mr Swinney was pressed on the matter by Chris Deerin, director of the think tank Enlighten, which was formerly known as Reform Scotland.
At an event in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Mr Deerin said Ms Sturgeon had portrayed her predecessor 'at times as a bully, a bit of a drunk, as a man who was detached from the details'.
In her book, Ms Sturgeon, who was first minister in Scotland and SNP leader between 2014 and 2023, set out how her relationship with her predecessor Mr Salmond deteriorated – claiming in the book that after she took on the top job her former mentor had wanted to 'destroy' her.
She insisted her relationship with the late politician began to started to sour after she became leader of Scotland.
She added that her infamous falling out with her predecessor was a 'bruising episode', as she claimed Mr Salmond had created a 'conspiracy theory' to defend himself from reckoning with misconduct allegations, of which he was cleared in court.
John Swinney, right, was being interviewed by Enlighten's director, Chris Deerin (Jane Barlow/PA)
Mr Swinney said, on Tuesday, that the memoirs gave a 'fascinating insight into Scottish political history', as he praised Ms Sturgeon for her leadership during the Covid pandemic.
The SNP leader, who was deputy first minister at that time, told the audience at the Enlighten event: 'We were all taking big decisions in difficult circumstance.'
He added: 'In a moment of absolutely unparalleled difficulty for the country, in which there was no manual, there was no precedent, I saw Nicola Sturgeon deliver considered and careful leadership as we moved our way through the pandemic, under enormous strain of delivering against those expectations, those difficulties.'
He went on to state that 'leadership is not easy', with Mr Swinney explaining: 'I feel that way, it is not straight forward, the decisions I take are invariably contested decisions.'
As a result, he said, making such decisions was 'inevitably' a 'very lonely place'.
The First Minister added: 'Ultimately, it is your call, you have got to decide.
'And I think some of that is explained in Nicola's book about what she felt at times.'
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