BOOK REVIEW | Operation Hurricane: The Story of Britain’s First Atomic Test in Australia and the Legacy that Remains

Showing that you should never judge a book by its cover, your reviewer was not looking forward to reading this one. Its cover picture of an atomic bomb explosion suggests that it might be the usual impassioned and unrealistic anti-nuclear diatribe. It is not.

Indeed, it is a very well-researched and reasoned account of what really happened during the atomic bomb test in Western Australia’s remote Montebello Islands in 1952. To lend it more authenticity, the author had, through his grandfather, a strong family connection with the happenings described.

While perhaps not terribly controversial at the time, the tests have become much more so over the subsequent seventy years.

Backgrounded against the geopolitical situation prevailing at the time and the geology, geography, and climate of the test site which, incidentally, has become an important oil and gas exploration and production region more recently, the book incorporates considerable fascinating detail.

The buildup to the tests and the construction of the test site by British and Australian naval, army, and air force personnel supporting mostly British scientists is particularly interesting. So too are the descriptions of their sometimes fractious inter-personal relationships.

All of this happened a long time ago. That makes the author’s diligent and very detailed research particularly impressive. That applies equally to the aftermath of the tests and what actually happened to the people and places involved.

This is a very well-written and researched book that turned out to be far more interesting and valuable than its cover indicated.

Author: Paul Grace

Available from Hachette Australia, Sydney, Australia

Web: www.hachette.com.au