Historian Michael Enright provides a close-up account of Australian servicemen on the Western Front during WWI. Using many previously unpublished, first-hand materials, the author provides a fresh look at the Great War through the eyes of ordinary servicemen. The scene is set with a brief account of events at Gallipoli, the place where the Australians gained their reputation as fierce fighters, and then the author discusses the reformation of the ANZAC divisions in Egypt and their subsequent movement to France. This leads to previously unpublished personal accounts that give new interpretations of the key battles on the Western Front at Fromelles, Somme, Bullecourt, Messines, Passchendaele, and Villers-Bretonneux, amongst others. Many of these accounts support the particular bravery of the Australian soldier. This work provides a reassessment of the ANZAC legend and mythology based on the personal diaries and memoirs of those who were there.

This book is about Australian aircrew in Europe during World War II and draws on extensive field research, including over two hundred interviews with survivors. The fact that the Australians were spread so widely across so many squadrons has contributed to substantial oversights, both in the official histories and in the literature on the field. Flyers Far Away redresses this imbalance and accords those largely forgotten Australian airmen a rightful place in the history of the European air war. Flyers Far Away describes how so many Australian airmen ended up in Western Europe fighting an Allied cause, in one of the bloodiest and most unforgiving campaigns of the Second World War. Using first-hand accounts from the surviving airmen, it traces their path from recruitment in Australia to operations over the Third Reich and Axis territories. For the first time, the exploits of all Australian aircrew, in Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Tactical Air Force Commands are brought together in one volume.