The Landing at ANZAC, 1915 challenges many of the cherished myths of the most celebrated battle in Australian and New Zealand history – myths that have endured for almost a century. Told from both the ANZAC and Turkish perspectives, this meticulously researched account questions several of the claims of Charles Bean’s magisterial and much-quoted Australian official history and presents a fresh examination of the evidence from a range of participants. The Landing at ANZAC, 1915 reaches a carefully argued conclusion in which Roberts draws together the threads of his analysis delivering some startling findings. But the author’s interest extends beyond the simple debunking of hallowed myths, and he produces a number of lessons from the armies of today. This is a book that pulls the Gallipoli campaign into the modern era and provides a compelling argument for its continuing relevance. In short, today’s armies must never forget the lessons of Gallipoli.

The August Offensive was born out of the failures of the Gallipoli landings and the subsequent battles of late spring and early summer 1915. General Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, chose to play all his remaining cards in this daring and ingenious gamble that he hoped would finally turn the tide in the allies favour and bring his army up onto the heights overlooking the elusive Dardanelles. However the plan's same ingenuity became its eventual undoing. It required complex manoeuvring in tortuous terrain; whilst many of the attacking soldiers were already weakened by the hardships of four months of enduring very poor conditions on the Peninsula. What played out was heartbreakingly tragic; command failed the bravery and sacrifice of the fighting soldier. This Anzac offensive, fought by a combined force of British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops, made infamous places such as Lone Pine, The Nek, Sari Bair, Chunuk Bair, Hill Q, The Farm, Hill 971 and Hill 60. Although tantalisingly close to success, the offensive fell short of its objectives and the attack was ground down to a stalemate - not least the consequence of the inspiring leadership of Mustafa Kemal. Hamilton's gamble had failed. This is the story, told using a rich mix of letters, diaries, photographs and maps, of Gallipoli's last battles; the forlorn hope for a decisive victory.As featured in the West Sussex County Times and All About Horsham Magazine.

War is often characterised as one percent terror, 99 per cent boredom. Whilst much ink has been spilt on the one per cent, relatively little work has been directed toward the other 99 per cent of a soldier's time. As such, this book will be welcomed by those seeking a fuller understanding of what makes soldiers endure war, and how they cope with prolonged periods of inaction. It explores the issue of military boredom and investigates how soldiers spent their time when not engaged in battle, work or training through a study of their creative, imaginative and intellectual lives. It examines the efforts of military authorities to provide solutions to military boredom (and the problem of discipline and morale) through the provisioning of entertainment and education, but more importantly explores the ways in which soldiers responded to such efforts, arguing that soldiers used entertainment and education in ways that suited them. The focus in the book is on Australians and their experiences, primarily during the First World War, but with subsequent chapters taking the story through the Second World War to the Vietnam War. This focus on a single national group allows questions to be raised about what might (or might not) be exceptional about the experiences of a particular national group, and the ways national identity can shape an individual's relationship and engagement with education and entertainment. It can also suggest the continuities and changes in these experiences through the course of three wars. The story of Australians at war illuminates a much broader story of the experience of war and people's responses to war in the twentieth century.