Klaus Neumann’s book is the latest in the ‘Briefings’ series from the Institute for Social Research at the Swinburne University of Technology, which explores ‘social, political and cultural issues in contemporary Australia’. This book complements the earlier one in the series, Spencer Zifcak’s Mr Ruddock Goes to Geneva (2003). With access to the National Archives and an acute curiosity to inspect files marked ‘not yet examined’, Neumann sets out to debunk assumptions about Australia’s response to refugees and asylum seekers in the past. He confines himself to case studies pre-dating the formal abandonment of the White Australia Policy, which limited and focused Australia’s response to refugees and asylum seekers.