My first debt of gratitude is to Ms Valerie Heyes, whose approach resulted in my writing this book, and to Mr Robert Sessions of Penguin Books, whose confidence enabled it to emerge from a different proposal. I particularly thank my former colleagues at the Memorial, especially Dr Steve Bullard, Ms Anne-Marie Condé, Dr Karl James, Dr Peter Londey, Dr Robert Nichols and Dr Garth Pratten, for their stimulating interest in this idea over several years. My senior colleague Mr Craddock Morton, director of the National Museum of Australia, has generously supported my research.
Mr Barrie Virtue and Dr Craig Wilcox performed the most valuable service of reading and commenting in detail on the entire manuscript, often saving me from myself; for their frank advice I am profoundly grateful. I am also grateful to Dr Nicola Young of Penguin for her careful and sensitive editing and her colleagues Ms Claire Wilson and Ms Anne Rogan.
I also thank all those people (whether they agreed with me or not) who responded to various papers, articles and media appearances over the past five years or who otherwise helped me to think about the idea of invasion. They include Ms Ryoko Adachi, Professor Ian Adie, Mrs L. G. Anderson, Mr Chris Baker, Mr Stephen Barton, Mr James Bowman, Mr Claude Bradley, Mr Albert Caines, Major R. F. C. Campbell, Mr H. L. Cannon, Ms Carol Cartwright, Mr Kanga Coghill, Mr Reg Cummins, Dr Mickey Dewar, Professor Brian Dickey, Mr Tim Egan, Mr Peter Engelman, Ms Jennifer Evans, Mr Peter Evans, Mr Dereck French, Mr R. Geddes, Mr Peter Griffin, Mrs Jean Hardiman, Dr Jacqueline Hollingworth, Dr Mark Johnston, Mr Les Kick, Mr Brian Lardi, Mr John Lewis, Ms Margaret Lothian, Ms Trish McBride, Mr Keith McGilvery, Dr Michael McKernan, Mr Andrew McKay, Mrs Ruth Mackinnon, Mr Humphrey McQueen, Mr Jim Mair, Mrs C. Mamantow, Mr Peter Masters, Mr Richard Miles, Mr Bruce Miller, Mr Charles Mills, Mr Theo Moody, Mr Clive Morton, Mr John Norman, Dr Bruce Pennay, Dr Dawn Peel, Mr Bruce Peterson, Mr Marc Podsky, Dr Peter Provis, Dr Libby Robin, Mr James Rogers, Mrs Jean Salisbury, Mr Leo Scheps, the late Mr David Sissons, Mr Phillip Skelton, Mr Lionel Smith, Mr Robert Smith, Mr James Stevenson, Mr John Tansell, Mr Craig Tibbitts, Mr Gilbert Tippett, Mr Alexander Turner, Dr Sandra Wilson, Mr Stephen York and Dr Bart Ziino.
I am grateful to the staff of several libraries; of the Australian Defence Force Academy Library, the Memorial’s Research Centre, the National Library of Australia’s Petherick Reading Room (where much of this book was written over the summer of 2006–07), the Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory (especially Dr Mickey Dewar and Ms Andrea McKey), my colleagues in the Library of the National Museum of Australia, the staff of the Northern Territory Library, Mr Roger Lee and his colleagues in the Army History Unit, and Ms Gaye Gericke at the National Library of Australia.
I am grateful to the trustees of the Eleanor Dark Foundation, who awarded me a fellowship at Varuna (from where Dr Eric Dark expected to leave to fight a guerrilla war in the Blue Mountains in 1942), but unfortunately I was unable to take up the award due to commencing at the National Museum. Permission to quote from the poems and diary of Dame Mary Gilmore was provided courtesy of the Public Trustee NSW, the Executor of Dame Mary Gilmore’s Estate.
Once again, grateful thanks for the support and forbearance of Claire, Claire and Jane.
While this book was partly researched and written while I was employed by the Australian War Memorial as its principal historian, the views it expresses are my own, and should not necessarily be taken to represent the Memorial’s views.