Acknowledgements

1I could not have possibly completed a book of this magnitude alone. Firstly, I must thank Peter Mauch, who originally supervised my PhD thesis and encouraged me to revise its findings into this monograph. His guidance in my academic development has been truly invaluable and it is greatly appreciated. I am also thankful to David Walton, for similar assistance as a supervisor and mentor.

2Secondly, I have several other people to thank at various research and tertiary institutions. David Jolliffe at the Australian Prime Ministers Centre was helpful in acquainting me with the primary material available at the Australian National Archives and the National Library of Australia. Mary Rickley, Dean Nogle and Michael Johnson at the Eisenhower Foundation were fantastic in their efforts to help me travel around Abilene, especially in very adverse weather conditions. At the Eisenhower Library, Chelsea Millner and Kevin Bailey were very helpful in finding useful material from the Eisenhower Administration. I am in debt to the many archivists I did not know by name at the Australian, New Zealand and United States National Archives who helped guide me through the important archival material. During publication, Lucy Barnes at Open Book Publishers made a time-consuming process feel incredibly easy. She provided great assistance in leading to the creation of this book.

3Some of the material in this book was derived in part from two previously published journal articles. In 2014, I published "The Australian-American Alliance, Recognition of China and the 1954-55 Quemoy-Matsu Crisis" with the Journal of Northeast Asian History, and in 2017 I published “Discordant Allies: Trans-Tasman Relations in the Aftermath of the ANZUS Treaty, 1951-1955" with the Journal of Australian Studies. The latter article is available online at this address: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14443058.2016.1275744.

4Finally, I am thankful to a few people in my personal life. A particular mention must go to Caitlin Holmes, who has been extremely supportive throughout all my professional endeavours. My mother and father, Sharon and Mark, have also been very supportive and deserve recognition for all the help they have given me over the years.