AUSTRALIAN MILITARY HISTORY –

“Australia’s war tales could be said to be the closest thing we have to sacred stories: ANZAC, Simpson and his donkey, Changi, the wronged diggers in Vietnam, Ben Roberts-Smith. Millions of dollars are spent enshrining these stories in the War Memorial in Canberra and the Australian National Memorial in France, amongst others. But did what we’re celebrating actually happen? In this book, award-winning author and historian Mark Dapin shows that often the reality was completely different from the myth – and that by celebrating the wrong people, we often forget about the real heroes. With deep research and a sharp wit, Lest reclaims the truth about our military history.”

From Simpson’s donkey and the Emu War to Vietnam and Ben Roberts-Smith, Australian military history is full of events that didn’t happen the way most people think they did. In his inimitable style, award-winning author Mark Dapin sets the record straight.

Australia has many stories and statues ‘lest we forget’ our military past. But from Simpson’s donkey to Ben Roberts-Smith, our history is full
of events that didn’t happen the way most people think they did.

The first Anzac Day, for example, was far from being a solemn march – it was a celebration where people dressed as cavemen and dinosaurs, among other things. And is it true that British officers callously dispatched Australian soldiers to their deaths in the Dardanelles, as we’ve been told? Did we really hate the soldiers returning from Vietnam? Were the white-feather women of the First World War fact or fiction?

In his inimitable style, award-winning author and historian Mark Dapin sets the record straight, showing that the reality was often completely different from the myth – and that in celebrating the wrong people we often overlook the real heroes.

‘With Lest, Mark Dapin transforms his trademark humour into serious history … It forces us to look again at stories we think we all know –
or should know – and reframe them with intellectual rectitude and rigour … Lest offers new perspectives on the past from one of Australia’s most interesting and provocative thinkers.’

First Edition.

• 284 pages ; 24 cm #050225