The Cost of War: Australians ReturnThe achievements of Australian servicemen and women have played a central role in shaping Australia's national identity. But while we rightly commemorate the sacrifices of Australians in war, we have ignored those who returned to Australia and their struggles to reintegrate into Australian society. The Cost of War: Australians Return focuses on the Anzacs who returned to Australia from the First World War, the Second World War, and Vietnam. It examines the effects of combat, the emotional and physical scars borne by returned men and women, the impact of return on families and friends, the repatriation system that sought to alleviate the effects of return, and the efforts of Australians to understand the bodily, psychological, and cultural wounds of war. Although the book presents a darker side of the Anzac experience, it is also an appreciation of how Australians have turned something so painful into a political mythology of enduring significance. Written in a clear, refreshing, and accessible style, the author's insightful analysis is based on extensive research carried out throughout Australia. |
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The Cost of War: War, Return and the Re-Shaping of Australian Culture Stephen Garton No preview available - 2020 |
Common terms and phrases
A. G. Butler Agent Orange Allen & Unwin anxiety Anzac Day Anzac legend argued assistance Association Australian Army Australian Soldiers Australian Woman's Mirror believed benefits British Butler Papers campaign Canberra cent civilian claims combat Commonwealth conflict context cultural Department of Veterans despite digger disabled doctors effects efforts ensure evidence experience families forces former prisoners Gallipoli hospitals hysteria illness Journal land League mateship medical officers Melbourne Memorial mental military Moreover narrative neurosis organisations pension political popular postwar prisoner-of-war prisoners of war problems psychiatrists psychological Queensland repatriation authorities Repatriation Commission Repatriation Department repatriation system Report returned servicemen returned soldiers returned-soldier role RSL Papers sacrifice schemes Second World Second World War seemed servicemen and women sexual Shell shell-shock Smith's Weekly social soldier settlement soldier settlers sought stories stress suffering suggests Sydney Morning Herald tion tradition Vietnam veterans war-caused welfare