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Join authors Michael Duffy and Nick Hordern on June 5 at Paddington Library for a talk about their recently published book World War Noir: Sydney’s unpatriotic war (NewSouth). This talk is co-hosted by NewSouth Books Australia and Woollahra Libraries.

Duffy and Hordern will tell the story of a time when many Australians were not as patriotic as we have been told. Their latest book World War Noir: an alternative history revealing Sydney’s unpatriotic war confirms that war and crime, in the form of sex, drugs, alcohol, racketeering and other illicit activities, go hand in hand. This new book reveals a raw and broad-ranging history that confounds expectations and reveals a grittier truth.

More information here.


Book Synopsis 

It seems that not even world war could stop crime in Sydney. In fact, World War Noirconfirms 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.

 — World War Noir: Sydney’s unpatriotic war (NewSouth)


Event details

Where: Paddington Library 247 Oxford St, Paddington NSW 2021
When: Wednesday 5 June 2019, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Cost: Free, although registrations are essential. Register here 
Contact: (02) 9391 7000
Email: records@woollahra.nsw.gov.au