'Among the books by anthropologist Frederick Rose is Australia Re-visited: The Aborigine Story from Stone Age to Space Age (1968). In this memoir, written from behind the Iron Curtain, the author casts a critical if nostalgic eye over the country where his politics were forged. I bought my copy from the left-wing bookseller, the late Bob Gould, himself a legendary activist. ‘Fred Rose!’ he bellowed when he saw my purchase. ‘Of all the unreconstructed Stalinists!’' (Introduction)