The Road

The arresting, definitive story of the unfolding West Papua uprising told by an acclaimed journalist and foreign correspondent.

They all know the history; they have all grown up with the repression. They have grown up fighting. They have seen their leaders shot and jailed. They live with the military post on the corner. The searches, the document checks, the beatings, the arrests, the surveillance and the swaggering, casual violence of the Indonesian army and police. They all have one thing in common- an overwhelming desire to right a historic wrong.

The West Papuan independence movement has reignited, and Indonesian troops are cracking down. Chemical weapons have been deployed, hundreds of people killed, tens of thousands displaced - all on Australia's doorstep. And almost no one is writing about it.

In The Road, investigative reporter John Martinkus gives a gripping, up-to-date account of the province's descent into armed conflict and suppression. Replete with vivid detail, new information and photos not seen anywhere else, this revelatory work of journalism shows how and why a highlands road triggered an uprising, and where this might all lead.

'The Road is the clear, concise and articulate account of a people who for six decades have faced the might of the Indonesian military. It is a great read – beautiful, almost angelic writing of tragic yet hopeful stories from an author who has literally put his life on the line to tell us of an all but hidden war on our doorstep.' —Damien Kingsbury, Professor of International Politics, Deakin University

'It is clear in its analysis, crisply written and genuine boots-on-the-ground reporting … This is urgent, dramatic investigative journalism at it best.' —The Saturday Age