Australian History
Book Details

Australia’s Bid for the Atomic Bomb

Wayne Reynolds

This important work reveals that Australian post-war defence policy was based on plans for joint nuclear weapons development between Australia and the United Kingdom.

Opinion

‘Detailed archival research in Australia, South Africa, Canada, the USA, and the UK has armed Reynolds with an impressive array of sources, which he uses to demonstrate Australia’s active and continuing interest in joining the atomic club. Anyone interested in topics such as Australian defence and foreign policy, Cold War spy scares, and the organization of science for defence, might profitably peruse its pages.‘ (Tim Sherratt, Historical Records of Australian Science, Volume 13 Number 4)

‘. . . A readable guide through the labyrinth of documents. . . the first detailed examination of Australia’s initial attempt to get the bomb. . . Perusing this book manages to take the reader back to a different time’. (Nic Stuart, Panorama, 17 February 2001)

About this Title

This very important work is a fundamental rewriting of Australian history from 1943 to 1968. It argues that after World War II, Australian defence policy was premised on Joint nuclear weapons development with the United Kingdom; and that while this endeavour failed, it shaped domestic and foreign policy until the end of the 1950s.

Nuclear weapons have traditionally been seen as American and British concerns, and various official histories have held that the development of rockets and atomic weapon testing were essentially British exercises. But author Wayne Reynolds reveals an entirely new perspective on Australia’s role in these events.

Australia’s Bid for the Atomic Bomb examines the implications of this for major social, political and security issues and developments in Austalia’s recent history.

This work will arouse considerable media interest, and will appeal to anyone interested in Australia’s political and military history.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Conversions

Introduction
1 The Starting Point
2 Australia Embraces the Fourth Empire
3 Australia's Manhatten Programme
4 An Australian Atomic Bomber Force
5 The 'Problem' of Australian Security
6 Playing the Empire Card
7 Lucas Heights, Maralinga and Atomic Strategy in Asia
8 Suez and the Restoration of Anglo-American Co-operation
9 The End of Empire Defence
Beyond the Fourth Empire

Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Dr Wayne Reynolds is a Senior Lecturer in the History Department at the University of Newcastle. He is the author of Doc Evatt (1994), and has published several chapters in books and numerous scholarly articles.

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978-0-522-84914-1