Independent Publishers Group Logo

Sign up today...
for featured titles, special offers, bestsellers, and more, in your inbox!

Subscribe to receive special offers, monthly books suggestions, seasonal selections, and more!

Close
Friendly Fire
Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire

Nuclear Politics & the Collapse of ANZUS, 1984–1987

HISTORY

336 Pages, 5.5 x 8.5

Formats: Trade Paper, EPUB, Mobipocket, PDF

Trade Paper, $44.95 (US $44.95) (CA $53.99)

Publication Date: August 2013

ISBN 9781869407414

Rights: US, CA, UK, EUR, ASIA & ZA

Auckland University Press (Aug 2013)

eBook

eBook Editions Available

Will it work on my eReader?
Price: $44.95
 
 

Overview

In 1984, the newly elected Labour Government’s antinuclear policy collided with a United States foreign policy based on nuclear deterrence. After two years of angry meetings, fraught diplomacy, and free-wheeling press conferences, this outbreak of “friendly fire” led to the unraveling of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS) military alliance, established in 1951. Based on previously classified government files in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom as well as interviews with key protagonists and the author’s own involvement in events, this account tells the inside story of this dramatic confrontation. This is the definitive account of a key turning point in New Zealand history and a dramatic story of powerful personalities tackling critical questions on the world stage.

Reviews

"One of the most significant memoirs written by a New Zealander and one of the most enjoyable and witty books I have read in some time."  —Barry Gustafson, NZ Books, on Final Approaches

"Wonderful read . . . for anyone who’s been through the Muldoon Lange period it’s just chock full of anecdotes."  —Richard Long, Agenda TV, on Final Approaches

"This is a superb memoir, written by a loyal New Zealander born and bred in the Garden City, who has done conspicuous service to his nation as a diplomat and senior public servant across the years 1958 to 1999 in many diverse roles. This is a splendid, at times deadpan, yet very compelling memoir. It is bound to intrigue and inform anyone interested in the shaping of New Zealand foreign policy in the later years of the 20th century."  —Bruce Harding, the Press, on Final Approaches

"[Hensley’s] account of events in 1984–1985 is an important contribution to the understanding of what was perhaps this country's most serious foreign policy crisis and certainly its longest (as is his recollection of the Rainbow Warrior bombing and its aftermath)."  —John Armstrong, NZ Herald, on Final Approaches

"It is aptly called a memoir and will be recognized as a classical example of the genre. It is wry, reflective, not once giving the sense of having scores to settle, amusing, offering insights into the prime ministers for whom he worked, done with an eye for the absurd, and filled with anecdotes that are told economically."  —Stuart McMillan, NBR, on Final Approaches

"Hensley, a superb writer, is wise enough to know that such a volume needs to be m ore than an academic and chronological account. So, he illustrates it with a vivid array of anecdotes and incidents—some of which are news revelations in themselves."  —Richard Long, Dominion Post, on Final Approaches

"I would strongly recommend it be found on the bookshelves of those who pursue an understanding of New Zealand’s modern history. Mr. Hensley has written a superior book on his life as a career diplomat and civil servant. But this is no boring tome. Rather, it is an account of an interesting tapestry of life by an extraordinary man."  —Col (Ret’d) Raymond J Seymour, Army News, on Final Approaches

"These reflections in tranquility on a fascinating life well spent make marvelous reading. Gerald Hensley is a scholar and a gentleman as well as one of the ablest civil servants of his generation." —Margaret Clark, Political Science, on Final Approaches

Author Biography

Gerald Hensley was appointed New Zealand Secretary of Defence in 1991 and retired from the public service in 1999, when he was honored with the Companion New Zealand Order of Merit. He is the author of several books, including Beyond the Battlefield, which was a finalist in the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards.