Anzac, the Unauthorised Biography

The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) remain at the heart of Australia’s national story. But standing firm on the other side of the Anzac enthusiasts is a chorus of critics claiming that the appetite for Anzac is militarizing the nation’s history and indoctrinating their children. Anzac, the Unauthorised Biography cuts through the clamor to provide a much-needed historical perspective on the battle over Anzac. It traces how, since 1915, Australia’s memory of the Great War has declined and surged, reflecting the varied and complex history of the Australian nation itself. Most importantly, it asks why so many Australians persist with the fiction that the nation was born on April, 25 1915, with the beginning of the Gallipoli campaign.

Carolyn Holbrook is a research fellow in the school of social sciences at Monash University. She has a PhD in history from the University of Melbourne and was awarded the Dennis Wettenhall Prize for the best thesis in Australian history. She has previously worked as a food and wine journalist and a policy adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.