{"product_id":"2026200018898-secondhand-a-bastard-of-a-place-the-australians-in-papua","title":"A Bastard Of A Place: The Australians In Papua","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Very good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the steaming jungles and razor-sharp kunai grass of Papua New Guinea, Australian soldiers fought one of the most brutal and unforgiving campaigns of the Second World War — a struggle not only against a ferocious Japanese enemy, but against disease, starvation, and terrain so savage it defied comprehension. A Bastard of a Place chronicles the harrowing Papuan campaigns of 1942–43, covering the iconic battles of Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona, Buna, and Sanananda with meticulous historical precision and visceral narrative power. Peter Brune draws on extensive archival research, diaries, and firsthand accounts to reconstruct the grim reality faced by ordinary Australian men thrust into extraordinary circumstances, illuminating both their remarkable courage and the catastrophic failures of command that cost so many their lives.\n\nBrune writes with the authority of a seasoned military historian and the empathy of a storyteller deeply invested in the human cost of war, producing a work that stands as one of the most comprehensive and unflinching accounts of Australia's wartime experience ever committed to print. The book challenges comfortable myths of heroism, holding generals and politicians to account while never losing sight of the digger in the mud. A Bastard of a Place is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the true price of the Pacific War — and why these remote, forgotten battlegrounds deserve a permanent place in the national consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50573401915611,"sku":"2026200018898-SECONDHAND","price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/8555c613-f22d-421d-9a16-52e7fc80ff92.png?v=1791168284","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200018898-secondhand-a-bastard-of-a-place-the-australians-in-papua","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}