The Circle of Silence: A Personal Testimony Before, During and After Balibo

by Shirley Shackleton

Winner of the 2010 Walkley Award Australian Shirley Shackleton was launched into an unexpected life as a human rights activist when her journalist husband Greg Shackleton was killed in East Timor in 1975. Her story is filled with a profound sense of purpose, enduring love for her late husband, and a fierce determination to seek truth and justice not only regarding the events leading up to the murders of the journalists who came to be known as Balibo Five, but for the cause of democracy and freedom in East Timor.

392 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read for me who has followed the Balibo 5 murders, the subsequent Indonesian Occupation of East Timor and the shocking Aust Govt's "blind eye" all these decades. Shirley's tireless activism, detailed in this book, is highly admirable. She has never ceased working for justice and the truth about the murders at Balibo in 1975 of her husband and his colleagues, but also for East Timor's independence. It is a very personal account and reflects Shirley's larger than life personality.

[Jennifer Rolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been on my 'to read' list for ages and I am so glad I finally read it. The presentation of the unfolding of these events has been so well documented and her personal story interweaving amidst it all was really successful. Brilliant.