Don’t Mention the Moles

The Secret Cold War: The Official History of ASIO, 1975–1989
by John Blaxland & Rhys Crawley
Allen & Unwin, 2016, 552 pages, $49.99
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I have … had access to many files and records of ASIO, including matters of internal ASIO management and operations … I took the view that it was essential for me to make inquiries on such matters as ASIO modes of internal communications, cover stories, operating procedures file and personnel security … These are not matters to which any outsider should often or normally have access. —Justice Hope, 1974[1]

John Blaxland’s third volume of the official history of ASIO is a reviewer’s nightmare. A search for its reviews indicates that the official histories have scarcely been examined in scholarly journals or even in the maze of publications of research and study institutes. The book eludes classification. It is not a contribution to the study of governance, as it relies on entreating and…