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 and interviews with former ASIO officers and many of those spied upon, this fascinating book exposes the secret elements of Australia's post-war politics and history.
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
Author bio:
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.
Category:
History
ISBN:
9781863736619
Awards:
Joint winner/co-winner. NSW Premier's Award for Non-Fiction 1996 AU
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
Publisher:
Allen & Unwin
Imprint:
Allen & Unwin
Pub Date:
May 1994
Page Extent:
384
Format:
Paperback - C format
Age:
0 - 0
0 - 0
Subject:
History