Cover ; Author bio ; Title Page; Contents; Foreword; Acronyms and Glossary; Epigraph; Introduction; Part I: The Rise of Statutory Intervention -- 1840 to 1947; 1 'An inexorable current'; 2 Of patriots, government princes and wool emperors; 3 The binary choice -- 1950s to 1958; 4 'If the play gets rough, I can mix it'; 5 'Marketing mesmerism' -- 1966 to 1969; 6 'All your danger is in discord!' -- McEwenism to late 1960s; 7 'The spontaneous uprising of the unwashed peasantry' -- the great wool coup of 1970; 8 'Without ever admitting to having done so'; 9 'Requiring the wisdom of Solomon'
10 'No retreat' in a fool's paradise -- 1976 to 198111 With the cylinders all loaded -- 1982 to 1987; Part II Setting the Floor -- 1986 to June 1988; 12 'A contagion'; 13 The start of the great bull run -- late 1987 to January 1988; 14 Hubris -- early 1988; 15 'On a collision course with the AWC board' -- February to May 1988; 16 The folie de grandeur; 17 'The price that could floor the wool industry' -- May to 24 June 1988; Part III Into the Rapids -- July 1988 to April 1990; 18 'In so deep it must keep going' -- July 1988 to December 1989; 19 'A nightmare in the making' -- late 1989 to February 1990
20 'No time for hard hats' -- February to April 199021 'Flying blind without radar'; Part IV Into the Bunker; 22 'Encouraged into bad cul-de-sacs' -- Autumn 1990; 23 'Let them eat mobile phones' -- April to May 1990; 24 'More to do with egos than economics' -- 17 to 21 May 1990; 25 Last stand at Roma -- 21 to 27 May 1990; 26 The fatal cut -- 28 May to 6 June 1990; Part V DENOUEMENT; 27 'No better than incompetent gamblers' -- June to September 1990; 28 'Nothing short of insanity' -- September to November 1990; 29 The insurgency -- October 1990 to January 1991
30 The crash -- mid January to 11 February 1991Part VI The Aftermath; 31 'Death by ten thousand cuts' -- February 1991 to today; 32 Counting the costs; Afterword; Acknowledgements; Notes; Select Bibliography; Index; Picture Section; Imprint Page
Summary
From the author of the influential The Australian Merino comes the shocking true story of the decline and fall of the Australian wool empire a tale that features a brace of Australian characters, political skulduggery and betrayal on a massive scale. Breaking the Sheep's Back is the untold story of Australia's biggest business disaster
