THE STRANGER Crime and Prejudice in Australia

Softcover. On a burning summer's day in 1903, 8 European migrants set out on a jolly picnic in the hills east of Perth, Australia. Wine flowed, a shot was heard and in a bizarre turn of events, 6 of them, including 3 women, were sentenced to hang just a few weeks later. Disturbing social divisions erupted as ugly attitudes towards migrants were revealed. For Australians brought up on the notion of 'a fair go', a raw nerve of intolerance was exposed. Nearly half a century later, amid the great postwar migrant boom of the 'fifties', the same misunderstanding, misguided patriotism, bigotry and sheer cruel-mindedness recurred. Much of the author's minutely researched book focuses on this second strange case and an equally unfortunate stranger in our midst, the (as the country was known then) Czechoslovak migrant Karol Tapci. Here is a stimulating true-life detective story of a violent death which split an entire community. This probing study of the luckless Tapci exposes Australia's two-faced welcome for many of its new settlers seeking a stake in the Lucky Country. A true thriller and an anatomy of community bias. Illus. + Map, References, Bibliog. and Index. 167pp. trade size softcover. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. with no creasing to covers.