Awards

• Joint winner of NSW Premier's Award for Non-Fiction 1996 (Australia)
• Winner of NSW Premier's Award for Non-Fiction 1996 (Australia)

Overview

Australia's Spies and their Secrets tells the inside story of the rise and fall of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) - Australia's premier spy body. Based on thousands of documents never before revealed, along with interviews with over thirty former ASIO officers and many of those spied upon, this fascinating book exposes the secret dimensions of Australia's post-war politics and history. It is certain to provoke debate and controversy. In this ultimate Australian spy story, investigative journalist David McKnight: rewrites the known history of the Petrov Royal Commission; instances actual cases of Soviet espionage in Australia; tells how a gigantic system of security dossiers on ordinary Australians was built up; exposes government and ASIO plans to intern 10 000 people; outlines ASIO's links with the leadership of the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party; reveals ASIO's extensive use of journalists; outlines ASIO's hidden role in the Vietnam War; and tells how ASIO officers feared that Lionel Murphy was a KGB spy. Australia's Spies and their Secrets is essential reading about Australia and its recent past. 'This book is a fascinating study of ASIO, meticulously researched and destined, no doubt, to become an indispensable source for understanding Australia's spies.' - Jim McClelland, Former Minister in the Whitlam Government

Full Product Details

Author:   David McKnight
Publisher:   Allen & Unwin
Imprint:   Allen & Unwin
Weight:   0.558kg
ISBN:  

9781863736619

ISBN 10:   1863736611
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   01 May 1994
Recommended Age:   From
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Dramatis personae Abbreviations Introduction PART I SPECTRES AND SPIES, 1944-1957 Introduction 1 The origins of ASIO 2 Labor's security service 3 The spyhunt begins 4 Military coup, enter Colonel Spry 5 The nest of traitors? 6 The spy drama that gripped a nation 7 The case of K 8 Endless enemies 9 Operation Pigeon, Operation Dalziel PART II THE WAR ON SUBVERSION, 1949-1960 Introduction 10 Peace, war and internment 11 The invisible blacklist 12 Nazis, aliens and foreign agents 13 Trenchcoats and mortarboards PART III HUBRIS, 1960-1972 Introduction 14 Smart Sylvia and Ivan the terrible spy 15 Reaping the whirlwind 16 Dirty tricks, special projects 17 Enemies and friends in the Labor Party and the unions 18 The anti-Vietnam War movement and ASIO's counter-insurgency planning 19 The New Left and the old moles PART IV THE FALL, 1969-1975 Introduction 20 The roots of the Murphy raid 21 Murphy's law 22 'Is Murphy a KGB agent?' 23 The beginning of the end Epilogue 1976-1993 Endnotes Bibliography Index

Reviews

Author Information

David McKnight lectures in journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney, and has worked on The Sydney Morning Herald and ABC TV's Four Corners.

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