This work investigates the systemic failure and bureaucratic negligence surrounding the internment of Jewish refugees and anti-Nazi Germans aboard the HMT Dunera during World War II. Cyril Pearl, a noted journalist and historian, utilizes primary source documents, personal testimonies, and government records to expose the conditions faced by these internees upon their arrival in Australia. The book presents a critical examination of the wartime hysteria and administrative incompetence that led to the wrongful detention of individuals who were, in many cases, fleeing the very regime they were accused of supporting.

This text is regarded as a foundational historical account that brought the Dunera affair into the public consciousness. The research provides a dense, factual examination of the events, serving as a primary reference for those studying the intersection of wartime policy and human rights in the twentieth century.