| ISBN |
9781742235684 : |
| 1742235689 |
| Author |
Twomey, Christina (author.) |
| Title |
The battle within : POWs in postwar Australia / Christina Twomey. |
| Other title |
Battle within : Prisoners of Wars in postwar Australia |
| Publisher and/or associated date/s |
Sydney, NSW : NewSouth Publishing, [2018] |
| ©2018. |
| Description |
xviii, 302 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits, facsimiles ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-293) and index. |
| Summary |
"This landmark and compelling book follows the stories of 15,000 Australian prisoners of war from the moment they were released by the Japanese at the end of World War II. Their struggle to rehabilitate themselves and to win compensation and acknowledgement from their own country was just beginning. This moving book shows that ‘the battle within’ was both a personal and a national one. Prize-winning historian Christina Twomey finds that official policies and attitudes towards these men were equivocal and arbitrary for almost forty years. The image of a defeated and emaciated soldier held prisoner by people of a different race did not sit well with the mythology of Anzac. Drawing on the records of the Prisoner of War Trust Fund for the first time, this book presents the struggles of returned prisoners in their own words. It also shows that memories of captivity forged new connections with people of the Asia-Pacific region, as former POWs sought to reconcile with their captors and honour those who had helped them. A grateful nation ultimately lauded and commemorated POWs as worthy veterans from the 1980s, but the real story of the fight to get there has not been told until now."--Back cover. |
| Subjects |
World War, 1939-1945 |
| World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Japanese |
| World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Australian |
| World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Australia -- Social conditions |
| World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Australia -- Attitudes |
| World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Australian |
| World War, 1939-1945 -- Social aspects -- Australia |
| Prisoners of war -- Australia |
| Call number |
2018.550 |
