Kokoda: 75th Anniversary Edition

Local Description

'It was just a series of muddy footholds in the mountainside . . . so slippery that you had to sling your rifle and leave your hands free to grab the nearest vine or branch as your feet slid from under you . . . so steep that in some places you could scale the mountain face only by using both hands and both feet . . . so muddy that at times you sloshed through a quagmire more than ankle deep and felt the cloying mud suck your feet back at every step. That was the track they were fighting for down there.' Chester Wilmot (from a despatch banned by Commander-in-Chief Sir Thomas Blamey's headquarters)

Description

Kokoda was a defining battle for Australia, where a small force of young, ill-equipped young men engaged an experienced and hitherto unstoppable Japanese force on a narrow, precarious jungle track. This book tells the Kokoda story in a gripping and moving style.

Promotion info

A superb blend of authority and gripping storytelling - history at its best.

Author description

Peter FitzSimons is well known as a journalist, TV personality and author. Amongst his bestsellers are the biographies of Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales, together with his amazingly successful biography of Nancy Wake. He lives in Sydney and embarked on his own Kokoda trek in 2003.