The Petrov Affair is a moment that seems to have been pushed into a corner of Australian history, but, as Manne proposes, it's actually one of the key moments in Cold War history, much more well known outside of Australia than within. Whether his statement holds water is up to far brainier types than I but "The Petrov Affair" covers the time during the Cold War when Australia made international news when a Soviet embassy staff member and wife in Canberra defected.

I read this book in Canberra and it was interesting to sit in the hotel that spies sat in a half century previously, attempting to bring down Australia, while an unremarkable house in an equally unremarkable street was the Petrov home until their defection. Also intertwined is the story of HV Evatt, one time President of the United Nations General Assembly, who saw his chances of becoming Prime Minister destroyed due to the after effects of the Petrov Affair (a lot of which was due to his own actions).

A good look at this event by one of Australia's top intellectuals. ( )