Anzac's Long Shadow: The Cost of Our National Obsession

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Black Incorporated, 2014 - Biography & Autobiography - 184 pages
'A century ago we got it wrong. We sent thousands of young Australians on a military operation that was barely more than a disaster. It's right that a hundred years later we should feel strongly about that. But have we got our remembrance right? What lessons haven't we learned about war, and what might be the cost of our Anzac obsession?' Defence analyst and former army officer James Brown believes that Australia is expending too much time, money and emotion on the Anzac legend, and that today's soldiers are suffering for it. Vividly evoking the war in Afghanistan, Brown reveals the experience of the modern soldier. He looks closely at the companies and clubs that trade on the Anzac story. He shows that Australians spend a lot more time looking after dead warriors than those who are alive. We focus on a cult of remembrance, instead of understanding a new world of soldiering and strategy. And we make it impossible to criticise the Australian Defence Force, even when it makes the same mistakes over and over. None of this is good for our soldiers or our ability to deal with a changing world. With respect and passion, Brown shines a new light on Anzac's long shadow and calls for change.

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About the author (2014)

James Brown is a former Australian Army officer, who commanded a cavalry troop in Southern Iraq, served on the Australian taskforce headquarters in Baghdad, and was attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan. Today he is Director of the Alliance 21 project at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He was a military fellow at the Lowy Institute and chairs the NSW Government's Contemporary Veterans Forum.