First Edition Hard cover published by Jonathan Cape Pty Ltd, Bedford Square, London, UK  in 1989. This is the First edition: First Printing and it's a stunning copy! No marks of any kind; No tears, no tape, no creasing in this unmarked  hardcover. Dustcover is glorious, unclipped and glossy and bright.  UNread ~ very carefully preserved since purchase this is  a COLLECTIBLE copy ~ Spotlessly clean & the contents are tightly bound and unmarked. 

 Read Author Biography  From Inside Back Cover  Below ...........

 INDUSTRY  REVIEWS ON BACK COVER BELOW  ....

"Expatriate journalist and film-maker John Pilger writes about his homeland with life-long affection and a passionately critical eye. In A SECRET COUNTRY he pays tribute to a little known Australia and tells a story of high political drama."

Quotes:
"Pilger is first-rate dissident journalist. tenaciously researched, fiercely argued, both unsparing and patriotic, A SECRET COUNTRY presents a harsh narrative of class, race and power; of the oppression and resistance, the betrayal and amnesia, that lie behind the sunny illusions of the Australian self-image." - Robert Hughes
"A moving account of the abuse of human rights in Australia, all the more valuable because it is written by an Australian writer." - Graham Greene
"Reminiscent of a sabre-toothed, unexpurgated Dickens" - Robert Carver, New Statesman

About the Author:
John Pilger was born and educated in Sydney, Australia. He has been a war correspondent, film-maker and playwright. Based in London, he has written from many countries and has twice won British journalism's highest award, that of Journalist of the Year, for his work in Vietnam and Cambodia. Among a number of other awards, he has been International Reporter of the Year, and winner of the United Nations Association Media Peace Prize. His documentaries have won prizes at Chicago, Melbourne and other international festivals.

REVIEWS .......

No Crocodile Dundee here!  ………… No serious reader of contemporary Australian history or politics should miss this book. It is a departure from cliched (and sometimes misleading) cuddly, woolly, and warm images of a sun-drenched land of cute marsupials, insouciant inhabitants, and otherwise seemingly featureless social history.

The author brings unique viewpoints and journalistic sources (for example, CIA insider Victor Marchetti, whom he quotes several times) to several major subjects of Australia's history in the 1970s and 1980s. Even the parts of this book which resemble conspiracy theory more than solidly researched history form food for thought. A clear example is the chapter entitled "The Coup" which discusses a still poorly understood subject -- the fall of the Whitlam government. This episode, in which the Governor-General (the representative of the British Queen) dismissed the elected Prime Minister of Australia in 1975, is perhaps one of the most monumental and disturbing events of Australian political history, and still stirs debate equivalent to those in the United States surrounding the assassination of JFK. Even if Pilger's account of the involvement of the CIA in this "coup d'etat" may seem far fetched, it does put a rare focus on the extent and nature of the US-Australian security and intelligence relationship, aspects of which are still unknown to Australians and Americans alike.

Other provocative subjects which Pilger covers include the plight of Aborigines and the role and influence of multinationals in Australia. Pilger clearly regards his native country with affection. He closes with a vision of Australia united with New Zealand and other Pacific nations which he suggests would enable "...Australians to break free from our imperial past;and for us, like everyone, breaking free is the only future."

Foreign readers - but possibly many Australian readers too - will undoubtedly find this book an eye opener.

To the point and highlighting really hidden issues ……………. John Pilger delivers. Like his books on international affairs, this one, dealing with the oppression of the Australian aborigins is quite revealing. It is, as another reviewer remarked, an eye-opener. If more journalists would do the right research and were courageous enough to reveal what they have found rather than dance to the tunes of corporate media, the fight for justice for the minorities and the aborigins (to name a few) would be even stronger. This book by John Pilger is therefore an excellent work that contributes to this important struggle.

Should be mandatory Australian high school reading,………….    I spent 6 years learning about the folkloric mythology of the Aussie battler, without even 5 minutes covering the massacres that took place within a 30km radius of my school. Essential reading for issues from the First Fleet to the coup in 1976.

True Australia - beyond Bondi and kangaroos, ………….  Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard once dismissed alternative histories of Australia as a 'black armband view of history', preferring instead the version of passive natives, gentle colonisers and hard working convicts turning good. Pilger was amongst the first Australian authors to look beyond this whitewashed view of history and show that Australia is not the lucky country based on a sense of fair play, mateship and equality. Instead, he pulls away the curtain to show the racism, brutality and genocide that has characterised the Australian ccontinent since the white invasion of 1788. We need authors such as Pilger to show the truth of Australia and I can highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to know more about the dark underbelly of the so called 'lucky country'

Rare stories on history, politics, & business in OZ, …………………    In A Secret Country expatriate journalist John Pilger tells the often untold, hard to swallow, stories which make up the Australian past and present. Some of the wide range of issues covered in this book include:

- The white invasion of Australia.
- Contemporary Indigenous Australian issues, including deaths in prison.
- The power plays between the wealthy in Australia and politicians and how politics in Australia is influenced for personal gain.
- The power plays between other nations (USA & UK) and Australia. Including how these nations have potentially changed politics in Australia for their gain.

My favourite is the section on how the CIA through their influences was able to oust a democratically elected government and replace it with a better behaved one. It should noted that this book often reads like other passionate, emotive rants. It is easy to find yourself being totally engrossed in the story and feeling like you need to take a step back, follow the books sources, or find other literature which supports the books premises.

For people looking for a darker alternate view on many still highly relevant issues in Australia I would thoroughly recommend this book.

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