Exploring the consequences of Australia’s involvement in war with a critical and inquiring eye, Griffith Review 48: Enduring Legacies assembles a team of scholars, non-fiction and fiction writers, journalists and broadcasters to pose hard questions about why we remember and what we forget. How did the wars shape Australia socially, economically and politically? How did they alter the understanding of Australia’s place in the world and in our region? Did Gallipoli mark the coming of age of the new nation, or did that war devastate its potential?

Subjects traversed include the politics of commemoration and forgetting; the fear of Asia and the racial dimension of our participation in wars; how wartime experience has shaped political leadership; the personal experience of war and the broader historical perspectives that make sense of it; protest and dissent in wartime; the legacy of wars for democracy; indigenous Australians and the effects of twentieth century wars; the Labor Party and the Anzac tradition; the POW experience; veterans and trauma, plus myriad other legacies of war, including the familial, the psychological and the surgical.

Featuring work by: John Clarke, Clare Wright, Tim Rowse, Jenny Hocking, Peter Cochrane, Tim Bonyhady, Peter Stanley, Frank Bongiorno, Joy Damousi, Cory Taylor, Jim Davidson, Barry Hill, Marina Larsson, Rosetta Allan, Gerhard Fischer, Laura Jan Shore, Ben Stubbs, Gerard Windsor, Ross McMullin, Jill Brown, David Walker, Jeannine Baker, Craig Cliff, Paul Ham, Meredith McKinney, David McKnight, Tom Bamforth, Stephen Garton and David Carlin, as well as three soldiers with distinguished military service and successful careers in academia, research and writing – James Brown, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), Christopher Pugsley and Greg Lockhart.

Griffith Review 48: Enduring Legacies, co-edited by Julianne Schultz and Peter Cochrane, will highlight the importance of remembering beyond prescribed and celebratory frameworks.

Reviews

‘The high standard of this collection reflects Griffith Review’s reputation not only for engaging writing but for an informed embrace of the most challenging debates.’ Sunday Star Times (NZ)

‘The title of this excellent collection is, at one level, obvious but, at another, full of possibilities. A legacy, in common parlance, is something left to you… The articles presented show much thought and deserve wide dissemination… The book is a solid alternative to Anzackery, the overblown and jingoistic – and money-making – celebration of our military exploits. “Anniversaries”, says Tim Bonyhady, “can be more than occasions for remembrance; they may transform our understanding of what is being commemorated” Legacies can be invested and produce something rather different from the events that generated them.’ Honest History

‘There is much wise and thoughtful writing in this issue, and editors Julianne Schultz and Peter Cochrane deserve congratulations for sourcing diverse perspectives and original thinking about so many different aspects of military history.’ ANZ LitLovers

‘Celebrated soldiers, military historians, academics and admired writers challenge folklore and discover multi-layered inheritance of the wars to provide new insights, graphic portraits and telling analysis of their consequences.’ PS News

‘I eagerly accepted the invitation to launch the latest issue of the Griffith Review, one of the finest and most consistent publications in the social sciences in Australia, and, with the centenary of ANZAC looming, I was particularly impressed by its superb collection of essays on Gallipoli, or on related themes… I congratulate Julianne Schultz and Peter Cochrane for their exemplary editorial work and their choice of authors.’ Barry Jones, launch speech

‘With vigour and creativity, prominent Aussie academics and four Kiwis, including military scholar Chris Pugsley tackle 20th Century Wars and the dirty secrets that lie under the surface… The Griffith Review won’t be the only voice of debate in this commemorative year but it might be the most sane to date.  I’ve read many books already that tackle different aspects of the war but nothing is as poignant or a well informed, travelling between high level political and socioeconomic to individual and very personal accounts and critiques.  For all this it proves the sheer capacity for us all to think.  It’s just a shame that our leaders and politicians don’t read this before they act.’ Groove.fm

‘Anyone interested in the ongoing cultural–historical debate over Anzac should pick up the latest Griffith Review – some outstanding essays.’ Adam Brereton, The Guardian (via Twitter)

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