
Light and Shadow
Memoirs of a Spy's Son
Mark Colvin(Author)
Melbourne University Press
Will be published approx. on 30. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
324 pages
978-0-522-87259-0 (ISBN)
Description
He was the voice of ABC Radio's leading current affairs program PM and a founding broadcaster for the groundbreaking youth station Double J; he initiated The World Today program; mentored generations of his colleagues; and was one of the most popular and influential journalists in the twittersphere. Mark covered local and global events for more than four decades. He reported on wars, royal weddings and everything in between. In the midst of all this he discovered that his father was an MI6 spy. Light and Shadow is the incredible story of a father waging a secret war against communism during the Cold War, while his son comes of age as a journalist during the tumultuous Whitlam and Fraser years and embarks on the risky career of a foreign correspondent. Mark was witness to some of the most world-changing events, including the Iranian hostage crisis, the buildup to the first Gulf War in Iraq and the direct aftermath of the shocking genocide in Rwanda. But when he contracted a life-threatening illness while working in the field, his life changed forever. Mark Colvin's engrossing memoir takes you inside the coverage of major news events and gently navigates the complexity of his father's double life. The book was published seven months before his death, giving him the pleasure of seeing it become a bestseller. Award-winning ABC journalist Tony Jones pays tribute to his friend in a postscript.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Carlton
Australia
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
312 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-522-87259-0 (9780522872590)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2017
Simon + Schuster LLC
€10.87
Available for download
Person
Mark Colvin joined the ABC as a cadet in 1974. He was the first presenter of The World Today and worked for Four Corners for five years. After five years as London correspondent for the ABC, interrupted by six months in hospital with a life threatening disease, he returned to Australia as presenter of PM in 1997, a job he continued to do despite three years on dialysis and a successful kidney transplant. Mark died in May 2017.