A Secret Country: The Hidden Australia

by John Pilger

Book Overview

Expatriate journalist and film-maker John Pilger writes about his homeland with life-long affection and a passionately critical eye. In this fully updated edition of "A Secret Country", he pays... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394574621
• ISBN13: 9780394574622
• Release Date: December 1991
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 305 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.7" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

What's wrong with being shocked?

Yeah, Pilger does tend to shout, as reviewer G. Rogers ("Trouble in Paradise") correctly points out. But shouting isn't always just to "make up for the weakness of the argument". It can also signal exasperation. Or a desire to warn, alert, awaken. As an Australian, I found this book a revelation when I read it twenty years ago. Particularly his well annotated discussion of the events that led to "The Dismissal" of 11 Nov 1975. That was a deeply strange and troubling time in the Lucky Country (cf. Australian_constitutional_crisis_of_1975 at Wikipedia), and Pilger's chapter casts real light on it, without depending on "deep throat/cigarette man" anonymous informants for either his insights or his information. Sidebar. I navigated to this page today because of a sentence I read this morning: "Israeli security officials said they were looking at ways to force Hamas from power, and were focusing on an economic squeeze that would prompt Palestinians to clamour for the return of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ousted Fatah Party." (Amy Tiebel, Canadian Press, 14feb06). It just rang a bell, that's all. I give the book five stars because it blazed new territory when it was written, and has been ignored and insulted rather than discredited in the years since. Anyone interested in Australia (other than as a meaningless tourist destination) should at least consider reading this fine and passionate book. Highly recommended.

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

This is the history that is sadly missing from the corporate press and the Australian education system.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.

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.

Excellent

An incredibly well reserched book. John Pilger presents the darker side of Australia that perhaps most Australians would prefer not to know. His account of the behaviour of politicians in the 70's and 80's raises the questions in the readers mind of what could be going on behind the scenes today. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to delve into the "behind the scenes" of Australian political history.