The Reds : The Communist Party of Australia from Origins to Illegality

Shortlisted, Best Australian History Book, New South Wales Premier's History Literary Awards 1999 Winner, Non-fiction prize, The Age Book of the Year Awards 1998 Highly Commended, Fellowship of Australian Writers Literature Award, National Literary Awards 1988 In 1920, 26 men and women met in a dingy hall in Sydney to create a new political party.

They expected the overthrow of capitalism and the emancipation of humanity - here, and all around the world.

Two decades later, when Australia joined in the Second World War, the Commonwealth Government suppressed the Communist Party of Australia.

The handful of idealists and dissidents had become a political force powerful enough, in the view of the authorities, to pose a threat to national security.

The Communist Party was a major part of Australia's political landscape for more than half a century.

It enlisted its members in a world-wide cause that was charged with hopes for revolutionary change and imbued with the iron discipline of warriors in a class war.

It attracted fierce hostility; it inspired devotion.

Australian communism wielded an influence far beyond its size.

The Party cam