Fighting the Enemy: Australian Soldiers and their Adversaries in World War II

by Mark Johnston

Overview

Fighting the Enemy is about men with the job of killing each other. Based on the wartime writings of hundreds of Australian front-line soldiers during World War II, this powerful and resonant book contains many moving descriptions of high emotion and drama. Soldiers' interactions with their enemies are central to war, and their attitudes to their adversaries are crucial to the way wars are fought. This book is an unprecedented and thorough examination of the way Australian combat soldiers interacted with troops from the four powers engaged in World War II.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521782227
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/16/2000
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Conventions and Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. War in the Middle East: 1. The Italians; 2. The Germans: the real enemy; 3. The Germans: mutual respect; 4. The Vichy French; Part II. War In The Pacific: 5. The Japanese: most encountered, most hated; 6. The Japanese: sources of hate; 7. The Japanese: questions of quality; 8. The Japanese: empathy, compassion and incomprehension; Conclusion; Appendix A. Fifth Columnists; Appendix B. Orders of Battle of Australia's Enemies; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Johnston has made an important contribution to our understanding of the ways in which Australian soldiers perceived their different enemies in the Second World War." International History Review

"He offers the ideas and observations of ordinary soldiers on a matter commonly overlooked in war histories that focus on strategy or on the narrative of campaigns." Contemporary Pacific

From the Publisher