image of person or book cover 4883626021204037209.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... 2014 Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'‘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.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Included on the 2014 Prime Minister's reading list.
  • 2015 Fellowship of Australian Writers in Victoria : Excellence in Non-Fiction Award judges' report :

    Anzac's Long Shadow is the clear-sighted work of a former Australian Army Officer, shedding valuable new light on what has become a controversial subject.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Collingwood, Fitzroy - Collingwood area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2014 .
      image of person or book cover 4883626021204037209.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 184p.
      Note/s:
      • Includes notes and bibliography.
      ISBN: 9781863956390

Other Formats

  • Large print.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

Leaning on Anzac Day Robert Murray , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , May vol. 59 no. 5 2015; (p. 104)

— Review of Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession James Brown , 2014 single work non-fiction
The Past Is Not Sacred : A Dangerous Obsession with Anzac Peter Cochrane , 2015 single work essay
— Appears in: Griffith Review , April no. 48 2015; (p. 13-24)

'THE TERM ‘HISTORY wars’ is best known in Australia for summing up the fierce debate over the nature and extent of frontier conflict, with profound implications for the legitimacy of the British settlement and thus for national legitimacy today.

'That debate, though hardly resolved, is now taking something of a back seat to a public controversy focused on Australia’s wars of the twentieth century and particularly on the war of 1914–18, called the Great War until the Second World War redefined it as the First.' (Introduction)

Huge Cost of Our Obsession with Anzacs Ian McPhedran , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 February 2014; (p. 7)
James Brown : Anzac's Long Shadow 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 1-7 March 2014; (p. 23)

— Review of Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession James Brown , 2014 single work non-fiction
Anzac's Long Shadow Elaine Fry , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 19-20 April 2014; (p. 21)

— Review of Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession James Brown , 2014 single work non-fiction
Anzac's Long Shadow Elaine Fry , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 19-20 April 2014; (p. 21)

— Review of Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession James Brown , 2014 single work non-fiction
James Brown : Anzac's Long Shadow 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 1-7 March 2014; (p. 23)

— Review of Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession James Brown , 2014 single work non-fiction
Leaning on Anzac Day Robert Murray , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , May vol. 59 no. 5 2015; (p. 104)

— Review of Anzac's Long Shadow : The Cost of Our National Obsession James Brown , 2014 single work non-fiction
Huge Cost of Our Obsession with Anzacs Ian McPhedran , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 February 2014; (p. 7)
The Past Is Not Sacred : A Dangerous Obsession with Anzac Peter Cochrane , 2015 single work essay
— Appears in: Griffith Review , April no. 48 2015; (p. 13-24)

'THE TERM ‘HISTORY wars’ is best known in Australia for summing up the fierce debate over the nature and extent of frontier conflict, with profound implications for the legitimacy of the British settlement and thus for national legitimacy today.

'That debate, though hardly resolved, is now taking something of a back seat to a public controversy focused on Australia’s wars of the twentieth century and particularly on the war of 1914–18, called the Great War until the Second World War redefined it as the First.' (Introduction)

Last amended 27 Feb 2020 14:35:31
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X