Stone Cold: The Extraordinary Story of Len Opie, Australia's Deadliest Soldier

Description

'If I'd have been a Vietcong you'd be dead.' - Len Opie 'Len was a soldier above soldiers.' - Keith Payne VC Through three wars across 30 years, Len Opie carved a reputation as one of the country's greatest infantrymen. A cold-eyed killer who drank nothing stronger than weak tea, he fought with his bare hands, a sharpened shovel and piano wire. He was a larrikin who went by the book, unless the book was wrong. He set his own bar high and expected others to do the same. Stone Cold is the extraordinary story of one of Australia's most fearless fighters. It takes us into the jungles of New Guinea and Borneo and some of the fiercest battles of World War II. It goes to the cold heart of Korea, where Len emerged from the ranks to excel in the epic Battle of Kapyong and play a key role at the Battle of Maryang San. And it drops us into the centre of the American counterinsurgency war in Vietnam with Len's involvement in the CIA's shadowy black ops program, Phoenix. Action-packed and surprising, Stone Cold gives rich life to a warrior soldier and one of Australia's greatest diggers.

Andrew Faulkner is an Adelaide-based journalist and author of the highly acclaimed biography Arthur Blackburn, VC. He has been given exclusive access to Len's copious diaries and has interviewed many of Len's comrades for this book.

Len was a soldier above soldiers. -- Keith Payne VC on Len Opie