January-December 2010, vol. 1

the essays aim to expose Italian readers to anaspect of Australian culture which meritsexamination.biography & autobiographyMorgan, Patrick (ed.), B.A. Santamaria. YourMost Obedient Servant. Selected Letters: 1938-1996, Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press, 2007.Published in collaboration with the State Libraryof Victoria, to whom the extraordinary archivesof B.A. Santamaria have been donated, thisbook aims to reveal the development ofSantamaria’s thinking through the mostintimate form of communication; privatecorrespondence. This collection of lettersspanning sixty years shows facets ofSantamaria’s personality and activities thathave, until now, been undisclosed. The lettersare both personal and professional and speakfrankly on matters of the state, the Church andfamily. He is revealed as a person more subtle inhis views that his public persona would suggest.Morgan, Patrick (ed.), B.A. Santamaria.Running the Show. Selected Documents: 1939-1996, Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press, 2008.This volume complements the publicationabove and contains essays, articles and extractsfrom publications of the prolific and articulateB.A. Santamaria. Writing was a key part of hispolitical activity and he turned out exhaustiveanalyses and rejoinders on every matter ofimportance. Running the Show reveals many ofthe unpublished documents Santamariaproduced during his six decades of continuouspublic activity. It includes speeches, strategicpapers, reports to superiors, memos topoliticians, aides-mémoires, position papers,personal statements and political analyses.Moreover, it throws new light on a number ofcrucial episodes in his career.Sparrow, Jeff, Communism: A Love Story,Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2007.Impassioned, witty and moving, Communism: ALove Story rediscovers the fascinating life ofGuido Baracchi. Baracchi, who was the only sonof a famous astronomer, helped launchAustralia’s Communist Party and served, for atime, as its leading intellectual. Despite beingdubbed by The Sun as ‘Melbourne’s Lenin’ andclassified by ASIO as “a person of bad moralcharacter and violent and unstable politicalviews,” Baracchi was twice expelled by theCommunist Party. Yet, in true radical orthodoxstyle, he never gave up the struggle. This bookmakes a provocative argument about thehistory and the future of politics in Australia.Gatto, Mick; with Noble, Tom, I, Mick Gatto,Melbourne: Victory Books, 2009.He would become an Australian householdname. The autobiography I, Mick Gatto shedsan intimate light on the man behind theheadlines. The son of two Calabrian immigrants,Gatto recounts his inner-city upbringing, hisprofessional heavyweight boxing career andfinally his apprenticeship with one of Australia’sbest safe-breakers. Notably, he describes thegambling industry and his fourteen months injail awaiting the trial for the murder of AndrewVeniamin. This book provides an extraordinaryinsight into a colourful and mysterious world,with its own codes, loyalties and treacheries.Tobin, Des, Michael Tricarico. The journey notthe destination, Malvern: Killaghy Publishing,2009.Michael Tricarico and his siblings aredescendants of southern Italian peasantfarmers. Tricarico’s father Giuseppe came toAustralia in 1926 followed by his mother Angelaand sister in 1930. Author, Des Tobin, writeswith warmth and eloquence of the Tricaricos’time in East Gippsland during the War beforetheir move to Silvan in 1946. With particularemphasis on Michael’s story, Tobin describes histime selling produce at the Queen VictoriaMarket, before embarking on the distribution ofagricultural equipment and finally describing theestablishment of Silvan Australia, one ofAustralia’s leading manufacturers anddistributors of agricultural and horticulturalequipment. This meticulous publication containsover 300 photographs and records yet anotherstory about the Italian contribution to Australia.Ciconte, Enzo; Macrì, Vincenzo, Australian‘ndrangheta. I codici di affiliazione e la missionedi Nicola Calipari, Soveria Mannelli: RubbettinoEditore, 2009.Australian ‘ndrangheta chronicles the story of“two ‘ndrangheta clans active in Australia –effectively subsidiaries of the powerful Alvaroclan and the Nirta clan.” The book draws oninformation gathered in 1988 by the late Italiansecret agent, Nicola Calipari. Authored withexpertise – Vincenzo Macrì being one of Italy’sleading anti-Mafia prosecutors and Enzo Cicontea Mafia expert – the book sheds light onunpublished material that grants insight intorelatively unknown presence of Calabrianorganised crime in Australia.Battiston, Simone; Mascitelli Bruno (eds.), IlGlobo. Fifty Years of an Italian Newspaper inAustralia, Ballan: Connor Court Publishing,2009.The year 2009 marked the 50 th anniversary ofAustralia’s leading Italian-language newspaper.54 | IHSJ ITALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 18 2010