Nick Hordern – författare

In the late 1960s Sydney was one of the most prosperous places on earth and one of the most corrupt. A large proportion of the population was engaged in illegal gambling and other activities that made colourful characters such as Lennie McPherson, Abe Saffron and George Freeman wealthy and, to many, folk heroes. Thousands of American soldiers on their seven-day leave from Vietnam turned Kings Cross, with its strip shows and night clubs, into one big party.The whole corrupt carnival was run by the police in an arrangement known as ‘the joke’. They could just about get away with that term because heroin had not yet turned the underworld into the killing machine it would soon become. Two of the main jokers were also lovers: vice queen Shirley Brifman and violent detective Fred Krahe.In Sydney Noir Michael Duffy and Nick Hordern revisit this dark yet fascinating chapter of Sydney’s history, making the bold argument that premier of the time, Sir Robert Askin, may not have been as guilty of corruption as many have claimed.

It seems that not even world war could stop crime in Sydney. In fact, World War Noir confirms that war and crime – in the form of sex, drugs, alcohol, racketeering and other illicit activities – go hand in hand. A companion book to the later glory days of the Sydney underworld from Sydney Noir, here Michael Duffy and Nick Hordern tell the story of a time when many Australians were not as patriotic as we have been told. With soldiers’ pockets full of cash and the freedom of being on leave, criminal possibilities opened up during World War II. Told from the ground – or the gutter – up, World War Noir is a raw and broad-ranging tale that confounds expectations and reveals a grittier truth. Sales PointsVividly describes the leading characters of the Sydney underworld during World War II including corrupt cops, prostitutes, gunmen, sly grog traders and bookmakersProvides an alternative history of Sydney during World War II, depicting a city far less patriotic, and far more hell bent on pleasure, than we have been led to believeTaps into the popular non-fiction crime genreWritten in the same bold, engaging style as their successful book Sydney NoirDuffy and Hordern are experienced journalists known for their interest in Sydney’s crime historyA new way of thinking about war on the homefront, especially around Anzac DayDuffy and Hordern created and run the Sydney Crime Museum website and its associated Facebook page. [Duffy is about to start posting on the blog and FB again]

In the years before Pearl Harbor, Australian authorities were convinced that large numbers of the Japanese diplomatic and business community were spying, and that many of their Australian associates were helping them. Certainly, some Japanese avidly harvested information that was publicly available, and some Australians helped them to do so – but there’s no evidence that either stole actual military secrets. Targeting Australians deemed security threats, the authorities relied on subjective judgements about people’s ‘loyalty’ to decide whether they should be sanctioned. Nor did such suspicions about ‘loyalty’ die away at the War’s end, the belief that prominent Australians had acted as collaborators, and had been prepared to welcome a Japanese invasion, persisted for decades. Drawing on previously unexamined evidence, this book argues that these beliefs emerged from a baseless conspiracy theory.