Â
PRAISE FOR
UNHOLY FURY
âAn utterly compelling story wonderfully told. A new prime minister, Australiaâs first Labor head of government in almost a quarter of a century, confronts a wilful, no less spiteful US president newly re-elected yet one already under siege to domestic events which ultimately destroy him. The visitor is determined to set Australia on a more independent foreign policy. Washington, grown used to sycophants from Canberra, is equally adamant to bring him to heel. James Curran has written one of the most important books of recent memory.â
Alan Ramsey
âThis path-breaking book is filled with revelations and insights. It is the story of Australia coming to maturity.â
Paul Kelly, Editor at Large,
The Australian
âThis important book reveals for the first time the full depth of the rift between Australia and its key ally during the Whitlam years. Enlightening and entertaining in equal measure, sparkling with wit and insight,
Unholy Fury
shows how Gough Whitlamâs effort to redefine the alliance so antagonised the Nixon administration that it considered abandoning ANZUS altogether. Drawing on rich research in newly declassified sources in both countries, the book provides a compelling, sometimes laugh-out-loud account of the personalities and politics of the eraâand offers much to ponder for anyone interested in the AustralianâUS relationship today.â
Barbara Keys, Associate Professor of History, University of Melboune
â
Unholy Fury
is both an elegant and illuminating account of a crucial moment in Australian and American diplomatic history, and a much-needed meditation on the tangle of risk and politics at the heart of the ANZUS alliance.â
Michael Wesley, Professor of International Affairs, Director,
Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
âThe AustralianâAmerican relationship has probably only suffered one really bad moment: and this is it, the subject of James Curranâs superbly researched and written account of the NixonâWhitlam era. Itâs more than a history of this moment, however. Itâs a book about the dilemma both Australia and America face in managing an alliance relationshipâbristling with dangers as well as mutual advantage.â
Bob Carr
Â
ALSO BY JAMES CURRAN
THE POWER OF SPEECH: AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTERS DEFINING THE NATIONAL IMAGE
(MUP, 2004)
âa rare and welcome beast: a work of scholarship that is eminently and compellingly readableâ.
Adelaide Review
âCurran ⦠is persuasive in showing how much ideas matter. This comprehensive history of the stories our prime ministers have told is essential reading.â
James Walter,
Age
âAn important, intriguing book that demonstrates how politicians have wrestled with the idea of what makes an Australian and how we should relate to the world since the 1940s ⦠Curran is a subtle thinker who has distilled meaning from a mass of documents
Stephen Matchett,
Weekend Australian
âthis important book is not only a significant contribution to the identity debate and to prime ministerial biography but to contemporary Australian history. Curran has succeeded in showing how prime ministers from Curtin and Chifley to Keating and Howard have interpreted Australian history, Australian society and Australiaâs place in the world.â
NSW History Awards, 2005
THE UNKNOWN NATION: AUSTRALIA AFTER EMPIRE
With Stuart Ward (MUP, 2010)
âthis excellent study ⦠presents what is likely to be an influential interpretation of an important aspect of the recent past ⦠a significant book, and certainly a landmark.â
Frank Bongiorno,
History Australia
âilluminating and entertaining ⦠this book sheds new light on the political, cultural and intellectual history of the post-war period in Australiaâ.
Prime Ministerâs Prize for Australian History,
Nadia Nichols
Melissa Schroeder
ANTON CHEKHOV
Rochelle Paige
Laura Wolf
Declan Conner
Toby Bennett
Brian Rathbone
Shan, David Weaver
Adam Dreece