A landmark history of Australian Jews in the military, from the First Fleet to the recent war in Afghanistan. Over 7000 Jews have fought in Australia's military conflicts, including more than 330 who gave their lives. While Sir John Monash is the best known, in Jewish Anzacs acclaimed writer and historian Mark Dapin reveals the personal, often extraordinary, stories of many other Jewish servicemen and women: from air aces to POWs, from nurses to generals, from generation to generation. Weaving together official records and interviews, private letters, diaries and papers, Dapin explores the diverse lives of his subjects and reflects on their valor, patriotism, mateship, faith and sacrifice.
Extraordinarily, it was men born in the former Russian Empire that constituted the most numerous group in the First Australian Imperial Force, after those of Anglo-Celtic background. This book, a history of Russin multiethnic communities in Australia, follows the hidden lives of these Anzacs through and beyond the war.
"George Sternfield's book reveals a personal journey through a turbulent life, drawing on personal recollections, conversations with family members and friends and research. It tells of an infant escaping the Holocaust, a childhood spent in Siberia; adolescence in post-War Communist Poland, and maturity gained in Australia. It is a story is about escape, survival and migration to a new life in a faraway country with a different culture and language. The author states that he remains "convinced that the greatest challenge we face is to remain human in the face of tremendous odds"." -- Publisher.
‘A century ago we got it wrong. We sent thousands of young Australians on a military operation that was barely more than a disaster. It’s right that a hundred years later we should feel strongly about that. But have we got our remembrance right? What lessons haven’t we learned about war, and what might be the cost of our Anzac obsession?’ Defence analyst and former army officer James Brown believes that Australia is expending too much time, money and emotion on the Anzac legend, and that today’s soldiers are suffering for it. Vividly evoking the war in Afghanistan, Brown reveals the experience of the modern soldier. He looks closely at the companies and clubs that trade on the Anzac story. He shows that Australians spend a lot more time looking after dead warriors than those who are alive. We focus on a cult of remembrance, instead of understanding a new world of soldiering and strategy. And we make it impossible to criticise the Australian Defence Force, even when it makes the same mistakes over and over. None of this is good for our soldiers or our ability to deal with a changing world. With respect and passion, Brown shines a new light on Anzac’s long shadow and calls for change. "Bold, original, challenging - James Brown tackles the burgenoning Anzac industry and asks Australians to re-examine how we think about the military and modern-day service." - Leigh Sales "The best book yet written, not just on Australia's Afghan war, but on war itself and the creator/destroyer myth of Anzac." - John Birmingham James Brown is a former Australian Army officer, who commanded a cavalry troop in Southern Iraq, served on the Australian taskforce headquarters in Baghdad, and was attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan. Today he is the Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy where he works on strategic military issues and defence policy. He also chairs the NSW Government’s Contemporary Veterans Forum. He lives in Sydney.
The most amazing Jewish story of Gallipoli and the ANZAC Light Horsemen ever published in Australia. John Henry Patterson (1867-1947) was a non-Jewish British army officer who sought to help the Jews to create a Jewish state in Palestine. He was involved with such major figures as Vladimir Jabotinsky and Trumpledor. Jabotinsky and Patterson also believed that Jews, within the boundaries of a Jewish state in Palestine, would treat peaceful minorities with much more compassion and tolerance than they themselves would be treated if they attempted to be the peaceful minority.
'This book should be read by anyone interested in the way myths become accepted as history.' — Peter Edwards, author of Australia and the Vietnam War Why everything you think you know about Australia’s Vietnam War is wrong. When journalist and historian Mark Dapin first interviewed Vietnam veterans and wrote about the war, he swallowed (and regurgitated) every popular misconception. He wasn’t alone. In Australia’s Vietnam, Dapin argues that every stage of Australia’s Vietnam War has been misremembered and obscured by myth. He disproves claims that every national serviceman was a volunteer; questions the idea that Australian troops committed atrocities; debunks the fallacy that there were no welcome home parades until 1987; and rebuts the fable that returned soldiers were met by spitting protesters at Australian airports. Australia’s Vietnam is a major contribution to the understanding of Australia’s experience of the war and will change the way we think about memory and military history.
Israel is not just another nation. The history of Israel is not merely a collection of coincidences. God is not finished with the Jews. This tiny nation that is perpetually ensnared in conflict and persecution still holds a key place in God's purpose for mankind and has not been replaced by the Christian Church. The Tapestry of Israel explores a number of trends or "threads" that make up the history of this ancient nation. These threads prove Israel's modern relevance and demand a response to the Jews' increasing need for support as the pressure mounts to exchange the Holy Land for the illusion of peace. Christians will learn that the Jews are still God's chosen people, even today, and that heavenly intervention and miracles are common occurrences in modern-day Israel. Corrupt theology and deceptive theories are exposed! Discover how Satan seeks to rob Israel of her covenant with God and bring the destruction of Israel through anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Learn what the Christian Church's responsibility is in its support of Israel and what the supportive Christian should pray on behalf of Israel.
