A Bastard Of A Place: The Australians In Papua: Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona, Buna, Sanananda
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
In the sweltering jungles of Papua New Guinea, Australian soldiers fought some of the most brutal and unforgiving battles of the Second World War — and A Bastard of a Place stands as the definitive account of their extraordinary sacrifice. Peter Brune chronicles the desperate campaigns across Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona, Buna, and Sanananda, where Allied forces — ill-equipped, disease-ridden, and vastly outnumbered — clashed with a ferocious Japanese enemy in terrain so hostile it became an adversary in its own right. Drawing on extensive archival research, unit diaries, and the personal testimonies of the men who were there, Brune reconstructs the chaos, courage, and command failures that shaped the outcome of the Papua campaign with forensic precision and unflinching honesty. A landmark work of Australian military history, this volume presents not merely a battle narrative but a profound examination of leadership, mateship, and the human cost of war. Brune's prose is meticulous yet deeply empathetic, ensuring that the voices of the ordinary diggers — those who bled and died in obscurity — are never lost beneath the weight of strategy and statistics. For anyone seeking to understand what Australians truly endured in the Pacific War, the question is not whether to read this book, but whether you are prepared for what you will find.
Author: Peter Brune
Format: Paperback
Published: 2003, Allen & Unwin
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
In the sweltering jungles of Papua New Guinea, Australian soldiers fought some of the most brutal and unforgiving battles of the Second World War — and A Bastard of a Place stands as the definitive account of their extraordinary sacrifice. Peter Brune chronicles the desperate campaigns across Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona, Buna, and Sanananda, where Allied forces — ill-equipped, disease-ridden, and vastly outnumbered — clashed with a ferocious Japanese enemy in terrain so hostile it became an adversary in its own right. Drawing on extensive archival research, unit diaries, and the personal testimonies of the men who were there, Brune reconstructs the chaos, courage, and command failures that shaped the outcome of the Papua campaign with forensic precision and unflinching honesty. A landmark work of Australian military history, this volume presents not merely a battle narrative but a profound examination of leadership, mateship, and the human cost of war. Brune's prose is meticulous yet deeply empathetic, ensuring that the voices of the ordinary diggers — those who bled and died in obscurity — are never lost beneath the weight of strategy and statistics. For anyone seeking to understand what Australians truly endured in the Pacific War, the question is not whether to read this book, but whether you are prepared for what you will find.