Anthony J. Barker is senior honorary research fellow at the University of Western Australia.

• Chapter One: Prelude to Pearl Harbour: Joseph Grew versus Stanley HornbeckChapter Two: The Eccentric and the Charlatan: Ministers Johnson and HurleyPART TWO: POST-WAR INSIGHTS AND OVERSIGHTSChapter Three: Glimpses of New Zealand Through the Long Black Cloud of McCarthyismhapter Four: Looking at Regional Variations in Backward AustraliaChapter Five: Overlooking Britain: American Hubris Adrift on the Coral SeaPART THREE: IGNORING WHITLAM'S RISE AND WATCHING HIS FALLChapter Six: Overlooking the impact of the Vietnam WarChapter Seven: Far from Real Friendship: Marshall Green and Gough WhitlamChapter Eight: US Diplomatic Hostility to Whitlam's DismissalPART FOUR: A TALE OF TWO OCEANS: ANZUS THREATENED, THEN DESTROYEDChapter Nine: Ignoring Australia while Looking Down on the Indian OceanChapter Ten: Staunching the New Zealand Disease in the PacificPART FIVE: FIFTY YEARS OF EVOLVING ATTITUDES TO RACE, CLASS, AND GENDERChapter Eleven: The Complexities of Racial Attitudes in Three countries and Two OceansChapter Twelve: Looking for Class Conflict but Finding Bob HawkeChapter Thirteen: Denouncing Australian Sexism While Feminism Stirs the Foreign Service

Making extensive use of previously-ignored oral histories, Anthony Barker has written a perceptive and fascinating account of the attitudes and experiences of American diplomats and their spouses in Australasia. Probing beyond the formal, elite processes of foreign policy decision-making, Barker uses personal histories to cast new light on diplomatic and political history. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the United States–Australasian relationship.