Australia's First Spies: The Remarkable Story of Australian Intelligence Operations, 1901-45

by John Fahey

The first systematic account of Australian intelligence operations in the early 20th century offers fascinating new insights into Australian politics and international relations. Australia was born with its eyes wide open. Although politicians spoke publicly of loyalty to Britain and the empire, in secret they immediately set about protecting Australia's interests from the Germans, the Japanese--and from Britain itself.

As an experienced intelligence officer, John Fahey knows how the security services disguise their activities within government files. He has combed the archives to compile the first account of Australia's intelligence operations in the years from Federation to the end of World War II. He tells the stories of dedicated patriots who undertook dangerous operations to protect their new nation, despite a lack of training and support.

He shows how the early adoption of advanced radio technology by Australia contributed to the war effort in Europe. He also exposes the bureaucratic mismanagement in World War II that cost many lives, and the leaks that compromised Australia's standing with its wartime allies so badly that Australia was nearly expelled from the Anglo-Saxon intelligence network.

Australia's First Spies shows that Australia always has been a far savvier operator in international affairs than much of the historical record suggests, and it offers a glimpse into the secret history of the nation.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, Espionage

434 pages, Paperback

Published July 25, 2018

Reviews

[Peter Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no doubt that the work is at the pinnacle of detail and referenced evidence for the period 1901-1945.

And depending what you want from a book on this topic, I can very well see why so many ratings have come in at 5.

However, for me at this current state in time, I found it over detailed in several instances, which for me drew out the telling for seemingly minimal gain.

As all good works can, and do, however the work triggered myriad of emotions. It is very well worth your time and will likely shed new light on the activities, or in cases lack of, pursued by Australia from our inception as a nation until the conclusion of the Second World War.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry. So dry. I reckon if a packet of desiccant without any projection or hypocrisy would groan 'Wow, you're so fucking dry!' if it met this book.

A+ for effort though and those boring niche researchers that want to know the minutiae about the Japs kicking our ass in PNG and Fiji etc will probably love this.

I'm so thirsty I could do a Bear Gryls and squeeze some dung of the great grey elephant...or maybe not.

If only I could get those dozen or so wasted hours back. So repetitive and boring, and constantly looking up what the acronyms were (thankfully all of them were there in the back except 2 or 3).

If you already knew Australian intelligence agencies were shit then you don't need to read this. And the author being a goody two shoes and not wanting to write anything that might breach the Official Secrets Act is a laugh, has he not heard of WikiLeaks? Does he think we're mugs that don't know China and Russia hack our secrets and have already stolen all our good stuff? What a joke!

Can't believe my local library bought this, rather than some more mainstream and less dry stuff.

I've said this book is extremely boring and extremely dry right? Well it bears repeating, it's so important. I'm warning you all to not read this academic nancy pantsy crap. The only reason I finished it was because it was so overdue, it was already renewed twice and then they sent me a txt to say it's way overdue LOL. The upside of that is that I've saved someone from seeing it and reading it whilst I procrastinated on it.

[Paul Dow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book though found it a bit hard to read at times. There is heavy use of acronyms of government bodies which kept changing. It’s complicated by the fact that the author know so much about that “industry” I felt it was written for insiders more than those outside. There was probably a bit too much detail that didn’t add to the story (eg names of individuals in parties dropped behind enemy lines).

Definitely worth the read though. Found out some very interesting facts on how Australia contributed to the war effort and how the Japanese worked in response.

[Gary Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the result of a challenge when the author heard someone comment that a history of Australian spying would be very short. It is a detailed and well referenced account of some very interesting characters, some of whom volunteered and had no training, in the early 20th century.

It exposes an important part of our history as Australia attempted to prove it could successfully work independently of British rules and decisions. Spies were initially used for economic and political missions but war years demanded military missions. These operations were important to the safety of Australia, especially the coast watch activities in islands to our north through World War 2. However they were extremely dangerous, and often fatal.
An interesting read about what was (to me anyway) a little known part of our national story.