Dark Victory: How a Government Lied its Way to Political Triumph (Updated Edition)

Marr and Wilkinson have pulled together the whole confronting tale of how through iron will, subterfuge, disregard for conventions of a civilised seafaring nation, the misuse of secret intelligence and the use of military force against the helpless, the federal government closed its borders in the quest for votes.

Through forensic research, the authors have managed to build a story that both thrills and appals.' Tony Wright, The Bulletin

'...comprehensive and compelling.' Kristie Dunn, Eureka Street

'Dark Victory...documents a government and a governmental system totally lacking in integrity.' Ross Fitzgerald, Sydney Morning Herald

'...what Marr and Wilkinson uncover, step by step, in an inexorable narrative, is a scandal.' Morag Fraser, Australian Book Review

'Dark Victory is not only a fascinating description of past events: between the lines there are dark portents of repercussions yet to come.' John Button, The Age

They put lives at risk. They twisted the law. They drew the military into the heart of an election campaign. They muzzled the press. They misused intelligence services, defied the United Nations, antagonised Indonesia and bribed poverty stricken Pacific States. They closed Australia to refugees - and won a mighty election victory.

Dark Victory is the secret history of John Howard's campaign against boat people that began with the Tampa and ended ten extraordinary weeks later - after deaths and disappearances, violent confrontations in the Indian Ocean and international uproar - with the Australian people giving John Howard his third, most daring election victory.

David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, two of the country's most accomplished investigative journalists, burrow deep into the ways of John Howard s Australia. They reveal a world of ruthlessly skilled politicians, timid bureaucrats, a cowed Opposition, outmanoeuvred top brass, subtle spin doctors - and the men and women arriving on rotten boats who found themselves ambushed at sea by an angry Australia.

Dark Victory is a thrilling and provocative account of events that shatter many of the myths Australia has about itself and changed profoundly how Australia is seen in the eyes of the world.