BOOK REVIEW Top secret history told from the inside

AUSTRALIA’S FIRST SPIES: The Remarkable Story of Australia’s Intelligence Operations, 1901–1945 by John Fahey Allen and Unwin, SydneyPaperback: 456 pagesPrice: AUD$34.99 Reviewed by Chris Rule John Fahey’s book is a history of the birth and early development of what have become Australia’s intelligence community and its international connections. It details the organisations involved, operations, sources and methods, successes and failures, key individuals, and intra and inter-agency wrangling. It deals with the problems of professionals dealing with bean-counting bureaucrats; and it highlights the security issues that have plagued Australian intelligence from the start. Fahey contends that Australia’s intelligence operations originated in…