At its peak, Gunns Ltd had a market value of $1 billion, was listed on the ASX 200, and was the largest employer in the state of Tasmania as well as its largest private landowner. Most of its profits came from woodchipping, mainly from clear-felled old-growth forests. A pulp mill was central to its expansion plans. Its collapse in 2012 was a major national news story, as was the arrest of its CEO for insider trading. Quentin Beresford illuminates, for the first time, the dark corners of the Gunns empire. He shows it was built on close relationships with state and federal governments,...