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'Witnesses to War' is a landmark history of Australian war journalism that covers the major conflicts of the 20th Century: World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Bosnia through to recent and ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'Witnesses to War' looks at how journalists reported the horrors and politics of war, the rise of the celebrity journalist, issues of censorship and the ethics of 'embedding'. Interviews with leading war correspondents including John Pilger, Paul McGeough and Chris Masters reveal the challenges of covering ... read more
In 1942 a small band of young Australian soldiers overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to preserve Australiaâs freedom along the Kokoda Track. The Battle for the Kokoda Track is Australiaâs Alamo. If Gallipoli symbolised the ANZAC spirit in WWI, then Kokoda is its WWII equivalent. In August 1942 Kokoda was a killing field. Seventy years on, it is hard to imagine what those young men endured for our freedom but the journey gives some clues. The track plays a leading role in the story of Kokoda. It has a character ofits own. It... read more
D-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the Second World War, was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for a different kind of operation: one of deceit, aimed at convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the 150,000-strong invasion force. The deception involved every branch of Allied wartime intelligence - the Bletchley Park code-breakers, MI5, MI6, SOE, Scientific Intelligence, the FBI and the French Resistance. But at its heart was the 'Double Cross System', a team of double agents co... read more
Based on impeccable and wide-ranging research (including letters, journals and other first-hand accounts) and featuring dozens of fascinating, surprising and often poignant images, every aspect of animal involvement in the midst of the world's greatest and bloodiest of conflicts will be examined. In telling the stories of diggers and the creatures great and small they came to rely on, The Diggers' Menagerie promises to appeal to lovers of animals and military history alike; it is an affirmation of the bond between humans and animal... read more
An analysis of the individuals making up the lost generation of WWI. They involve a range of backgrounds and experiences, all states and classes, and come from a variety of military units - not just the infantry.
Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of The Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler's rise to power.
"Nobody is more disturbed," said President Truman, three days after the destruction of Nagasaki in 1945, "over the use of the atomic bombs than I am, but I was greatly disturbed over the unwarranted attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor and their murder of our prisoners of war. The only language (the Japanese) seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them. When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast. It is most regrettable but nevertheless true." The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and ... read more
General Stanley McChrystal, the innovative commander of international and US forces in Afghanistan, was livin large. Loyal staff liked to call him a 'rock star'. During a spring 2010 trip across Europe to garner additional Allied help for the war effort, McChrystal was accompanied by journalist Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone. For days, Hastings looked on as McChrystal and his staff let off steam, partying and openly bashing the Obama administration for what they saw as a lack of leadership. When Hastings' piece appeared a... read more
The Historical Atlas of World War II examines all the key events of the six-year conflict, with thoroughly researched text accompanied by highly detailed maps, offering an entirely original visual reappraisal of the most cataclysmic conflict in human history. From Germany's invasion of its neighbours to the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, splendid full-colour, computer-generated mapping with supporting text provide a comprehensive analysis of this global war. All the major events and battles that took place betw... read more
Ian Kershaw's "Hitler" allows us to come closer than ever before to a serious understanding of the man and of the catastrophic sequence of events which allowed a bizarre misfit to climb from a Viennese dosshouse to leadership of one of Europe's most sophisticated countries. With extraordinary skill and vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, Kershaw recreates the world which first thwarted and then nurtured the young Hitler. As his seemingly pitiful fantasy of being Germany's saviour attracted more and more support, Kershaw ... read more
From the admiralty to the miner's strike, from the Battle of Britain to the Nobel Prize, Churchill oversaw some of the most important events the world has ever seen. Roy Jenkins presents these events, while also managing to convey the contradictions and quirks in Churchill's character. Paperback (B-Format)
World-renowned military historian Robin Prior takes us step by step through the campaign that cost the Allies casualties of 390,000, including some 30,000 Australian and New Zealand troops. Evaluating the strategy, the commanders, and the performance of individual soldiers on the ground, Prior's conclusions are hard-hitting and painful. The naval campaign was not 'almost' won by the allies, but decisively lost. The land action was not bedevilled by minor misfortunes, but devastated by fatal miscalculation and error. Even if victori... read more
Using hundreds of brutally honest and extraordinary eyewitness accounts of the diggers in the muddy and bloody trenches, Western Front Diaries reproduces their private diaries, letters and postcards to tell of their heart-rending experiences, battle by bloody battle. Includes a gallery of previously unpublished photographs.
Anzac Fury commemorates the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe when 8900 Anzac prisoners of war captured in Greece and Crete were released from captivity. In 2010 it will be exactly 70 years since the 2nd AIF arrived in the Middle East to begin their extraordinary adventures in battles against the German and Italian armies in North Africa, mainland Greece and Crete prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Anzac Fury tells the riveting story of how the legendary Anzac Corps was reformed in the heat of battle duri... read more
From the cliffs of Gallipoli, to the jungles of Vietnam, to the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, Australia's short history has been punctuated by war. We define ourselves through our relationship to the battlefield - mateship, courage under fire, larrikinism - but few of us have been firsthand witnesses to these scenes. Soldiers writing from the front and journalists on the ground have shaped the way we think about war, and thereby the way we think about ourselves. In this remarkable collection from author and journalist Mark Dapin... read more
* A startling account of a German survivor of the Second World War. 'One of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat' Antony Beevor 'One of the most extraordinary and moving books I have ever read' Antonia Fraser
Australians and New Zealanders fought with great distinction in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East in both World Wars—in places that are now part of our history. Told through the diaries and letters of those who were there, Desert Boys brings to life the experiences, hardships, adventures and tragedies of wars fought a long way from home and reveals hitherto untold stories of bravery. More than 2,200 Australians died in the desert campaigns in WWI, while another 3,500 died in the desert and Mediterranean campaig... read more
In 1942, Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming was personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence - the dynamic figure behind James Bond's fictional chief, 'M'. Here, Fleming had a brilliant idea: why not set up a unit of authorised looters, men who would go in hard with the front-line troops and steal enemy intelligence? Known as '30 Assault Unit', they took part in the major campaigns of the Second World War, landing on the Normandy beaches and helping to liberate Paris. 30AU's final amazing coup was to seize the entire arch... read more
One of the most popular and controversial historians of the twentieth century, who made his subject accessible to millions, A.J.P. Taylor caused a storm of outrage with this scandalous bestseller. Debunking what were accepted truths about the Second World War, he argued provocatively that Hitler did not set out to cause the war as part of an evil master plan, but blundered into it partly by accident, aided by the shortcomings of others. Fiercely attacked for vindicating Hitler, A.J.P. Taylor's stringent re-examination of the events... read more
