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The hilarity of M*A*S*H meets the satire of Catch 22 in one
distinctive Australian voice. 'We need to send our survey party
there!' (pointing to map) 'But Colonel, we cain't do it. that's the
most insecure area in the whole country!' 'Insecure? Goddamn it!
the greatest concentration of American troops in the country is
there!' 'Yes Colonel, and have you considered why the greatest
concentration of American troops is right there?' CAPtAIN BULLEN'S
WAR combines the irreverent humour of M*A*S*H with the sharp satire
of Catch 22 in portraying one man's extraordinary experiences of
the war in Vietnam in 1968, the bloodiest year of the conflict. the
difference is that neither Captain John Bullen nor his experiences
are fictional. Nor was he a reluctant soldier. A graduate of the
Royal Military College, Duntroon, and a career soldier in the
Australian Army, Bullen commanded the vital map-producing section
of the Australian task Force at Nui Dat. Alert to the possibility
of humour in the bleakest circumstances, he decided to chronicle
the events around him. What emerges is one of the most darkly funny
and lacerating accounts of the Vietnam War ever written. Strewn
with wonderful character sketches and hilarious anecdotes, CAPtAIN
BULLEN'S WAR is more than just one man's insightful account of the
absurdity of war. He perceives with unsparing clarity the nature
and enormity of the conflict around him. A thoughtful, decent man,
Bullen's is a voice of sanity in a world gone mad.
For the first time ever, the compelling story of the infamous
Kokoda Track campaign has been told from both sides of the
conflict. In a unique and balanced portrayal, renowned journalist
Paul Ham recounts both the Australian and Japanese perspectives of
the events on the hellish Papuan jungle trail where thousands
fought and died during World War II. Based on extensive research in
Australia and Japan, and including previously unpublished
documents, Kokoda intimately relates the stories of ordinary
soldiers in 'the world's worst killing field', and examines the
role of commanders in sending ill-equipped, unqualified Australian
troops into battles that resulted in near 100 per cent casualty
rates. It was a war without mercy, fought back and forth along 90
miles (145 km) of river crossings, steep inclines and precipitous
descents, with both sides wracked by hunger and disease, and
terrified of falling into enemy hands. Defeat was unthinkable: the
Australian soldier was fighting for his homeland against an
unyielding aggressor; the Japanese ordered to fight to the death in
a bid to conquer 'Greater East Asia'. Paul Ham captures the spirits
of those soldiers and commanders who clashed in this war of
exceptional savagery, and tells of the brave souls on both sides of
the campaign whose courage and sacrifices must never be forgotten.
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Sandakan (Paperback)
Paul Ham
1
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R601
R491
Discovery Miles 4 910
Save R110 (18%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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After the fall of Singapore in 1942, the conquering Japanese Army
transferred some 2500 British and Australian prisoners to a jungle
camp on the north-eastern coast of Borneo: Sandakan. There they
were beaten, broken, worked to death, thrown into bamboo cages on
the slightest pretext and subjected to tortures so ingenious and
hideous that the victims were driven to the brink of madness. But
this was only the beginning. In late 1944, Allied aircraft began
bombing the coastal towns of Sandakan and Jesselton, and the
Japanese resolved to abandon the prison camp and move the prisoners
250 miles inland. The journey there became known as the Sandakan
Death marches. More than a thousand prisoners set out on the epic
marches. Only six survived. This is the story of the survivors and
the fallen.
'A concise study of one of the most fascinating and evil men in
history... Essential for anyone interested in military history' -
Soldier Millions of words have been spent and misspent on Adolf
Hitler. But there remains one aspect as yet insufficiently
explored: the impact of the First World War on the man who would go
on to indelibly shape the Second. Hitler fought at First Ypres and
he saw something on the battlefields that eluded his fellow
soldiers, something that would become the cornerstone of his later
life. He saw this war as heroic, noble and natural - the last act
of the fittest in the great drama of the human race. Where did it
all start? This is the story of how Hitler became the Fuhrer.
In this searing indictment of the rationale behind the First World
War, Paul Ham argues that European leaders did not 'sleepwalk' into
war, but that they fully accepted and understood the consequences
of the decisions they were making. In August 1914, the European
powers plunged the world into a war that would kill or wound 37
million people, tear down the fabric of society, uproot ancient
political systems and set the world on course for the bloodiest
century in human history. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of
that terrible year, Ham takes the reader on a journey into the
labyrinth, to reveal the complexity, the layered motives, the
flawed and disturbed minds that drove the world to war. What
emerges is a clear sense of what happened and why. 'To understand
the past,' Ham concludes, 'and share that understanding, is the
chief role of the historian. To understand the past is to liberate
ourselves from its awful shadow and steel ourselves against it
happening again.'
Japan 1945. In one of the defining moments of the twentieth
century, more than 100,000 people were killed instantly by two
atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by US Air Force
B29s. Hundreds of thousands more succumbed to their horrific
injuries, or slowly perished of radiation-related sickness.
Hiroshima Nagasaki tells the story of the tragedy through the eyes
of the survivors, from the twelve-year-olds forced to work in war
factories to the wives and children who faced it alone. Through
their harrowing personal testimonies, we are reminded that these
were ordinary people, given no warning and no chance to escape the
horror. American leaders claimed that the bombings were 'our least
abhorrent choice' and fell strictly on 'military targets'. Even
today, most people believe they ended the Pacific War and saved
millions of American and Japanese lives. Hiroshima Nagasaki
challenges this deep-set perception, revealing that the atomic
bombings were the final crippling blow to the Japanese in a
stratgic air war waged primarily against civilians.
'Outstanding . . . thought-provoking, readable and informative'
Soldier One hundred years on... On 18 July 1917, a heavy artillery
barrage was unleashed by the Allied forces against an entrenched
German army outside the town of Ypres. it was to be the opening
salvo of one of the most ferociously fought and debilitating
encounters of the First World War. Few battles would encapsulate
the utter futility of the war better that what became known as the
Battle of Passchendaele. By the time the British and Canadian
forces finally captured Passchendaele village on 6 November, the
Allies had suffered over 271,000 casualties and the German army
over 217,000. Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth shows how
ordinary men on both sides endured this constant state of siege,
with a very real awareness that they were being gradually,
deliberately felled. Here, Paul Ham tells the story of an army
caught in the grip of an extraordinary power struggle - both global
and national. As Prime Minister Lloyd George and Commander Haig's
relationship deteriorated beyond repair, so a terrible battle of
attrition was needlessly and painfully prolonged. Ham lays down a
powerful challenge to the ways in which we have previously seen
this monumental battle. Through an examination of the culpability
of governments and military commanders in a catastrophe that
destroyed the best part of a generation, Paul Ham argues that
Passchendaele, far from being a breakthrough moment, was the battle
that nearly lost the Allies the war. 'Paul Ham brings new tools to
the job, unearthing fresh evidence of a deeply disturbing sort. He
has a magpie eye for the telling detail.' Ben Macintyre, The Times
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