In 1942 Australia faced the first direct threat of invasion since 1788. The impact on Australia of the second world conflagration was to be very different from that of the first. This work is a one-volume account of what World War II meant to a sparsely populated, uncertain country on the edge of the world. The story moves beyond accounts of Australia's military role in Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific to survey the social, political and economic transformations triggered by the conflict. A study of wartime writers reveals how the war entered people's consciousness, and a strategic overview reveals how the war utterly changed Australia's dealings with the rest of the world.
Author Biography
Joan Beaumont is the editor of the highly successful Australia'S War 1914-18 and Professor of History at Deakin University. The six contributors teach history, Australian studies and international relations.
