cover image Rainbow Warrior

Rainbow Warrior

. Random House (UK), $30.95 (302pp) ISBN 978-0-09-164360-7

When the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk in Auckland harbor in July 1985, New Zealand police quickly discovered a French connection. As evidence mounted, it threatened to topple the French government and focused worldwide attention on Greenpeace and its aims. As reprinted from the Sunday Times of London, 11 investigative reporters here assemble the story. We learn about Greenpeace's earlier confrontations with France and the U.S. over nuclear testing in the South Pacific; the dubious history of the French Secret Service (DGSE); a mysterious charter yacht stealing in and out of remote harbors; and a honeymoon couple traveling on Swiss passports. Altogether, seven French nationals were actively involved in the plot to destroy Rainbow Warrior; an eighth had worked as a mole in the Auckland office of Greenpeace, according to this report. As a spy tale, this contains elements of farce, but it is an absorbing, fast-paced storyr of first-rate police work. Photos. (April)