The Penguin Book of Australian War Writing

Description

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, the crackling immediacy of this war writing will command your attention and open your eyes.

Mark Dapin is the author of the novels King of the Cross and Spirit House. King of the Cross won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, and Spirit House was long listed for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year and the Royal Society for Literature's Ondaatje Prize. His recent work of military history, The Nashos' War, has been widely acclaimed. He is a PhD candidate at the Australian Defence Force Academy.