Kokoda
|
On Sale:
|
27/07/2005
|
|
Formats:
Trade paperback
|
|
|
|
|
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Based on extensive research in Australia and Japan, and including previously unpublished documents, Kokoda intimately relates the stories of ordinary soldiers in ′the world′s worst killing field′, and examines the role of commanders in sending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.
|
|
|
Author Extras
|
|
|
|
Yoko's Diary
1945 was a hard time to be a child in Japan. Many had seen their cities destroyed by US bombers. Food, fuel and materials were in short supply. Yet spirits remained high. In April 1945, Yoko Moriwaki started high school in Hiroshima, excited to be a prestigious ′Kenjo′...
|
|
Hiroshima Nagasaki
′We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world.′ President Harry Truman The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed more than 100,000 instantly, mostly women, children and the elderly. Many hundreds of thousands more succumbed to their...
|
|
Kokoda (TV TIE IN)
′Never in my life ... had I seen soldiers who looked so shocked and so tired and so utterly weary as those men′ Brigadier John Rogers, Australia′s Director of Military Intelligence, 1942 Now a major two-part ABC documentary series produced with Screen Australia′...
|
|
|
Delta Force
By Charlie A. Beckwith, Donald Knox
The definitive insider's account of the U.S. Army's most elite and secretive special-ops unit, written by the legendary founder and first commanding officer of Delta Force Wanted: Volunteers for Project Delta. Will guarantee you a medal. A body bag. Or both. With this call to arms, Charlie...
|
|
Frozen in Time Unabridged CD
By Mitchell Zuckoff
On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane slammed into the Greenland ice cap. Four days later, a B-17 on the search-and-rescue mission also crashed. Miraculously, all nine men on the B-17 survived. The U.S. military launched a second daring rescue operation, but the Grumman Duck amphibious plane...
|
|
The Lucky Culture And The Rise Of An Australian Ruling Class
By Nick Cater
A bold and provocative book about Australia′s national identity and how it is threatened by the rise of a ruling class. Nick Cater, senior editor at The Australian, tracks the seismic changes in Australian culture and outlook since Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country in 1964. His...
|
|
View more new releases »
|
|
|
|