'Haven't lost the sand, dust, flies or fleas yet, but have had them for so long now they seem part of us’ – 12 August 1941, TobrukWhen Tom ‘Diver’ Derrick enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 5 July 1940, he was a 26-year-old labourer with no great prospects. By the end of 1944, he was a national hero who had risen from humble private to become a twice-decorated officer in the 9th Division’s 2/48th Battalion. On the jungle-clad heights of Sattelberg ...

Following Mark Johnston's acclaimed illustrated histories of the 7th and 9th Australian Divisions, this is his long-awaited history of the 6th Australian Division: the first such history ever published. The 6th was a household name during World War II. It was the first division raised in the Second Australian Imperial Force, the first division to go overseas and the first to fight. Its success in that fight, in Libya in 1941, indicated that the standard established in the Great War would b...

Trees are now in the public eye as never before. The threat of tree diseases, the felling of street trees, and the challenge of climate change are just some of the issues that have put trees in the media spotlight. At the same time, the trees in our parks, gardens, and streets are a vital resource that can deliver environmental, social, and economic benefits that make our towns and cities attractive, green, and healthy places.Ever since Roman times when amenity trees were first pla...

This riveting book follows a small group of Australian front-line soldiers from their enlistment in the dark days of 1940 to the end of World War II.No ordinary soldiers, they were members of Don Company of the Second 43rd Battalion, part of the famous 9th Australian Division, which — during campaigns in Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea, and Borneo — sustained more casualties and won more medals than any other Australian division. It is an evocative and detailed account of the day-to...

A bold and persuasive case for abandoning old religions and still believing in GodIn this book, Mark Johnston argues that God needs to be saved not only from the distortions of the "undergraduate atheists" (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris) but, more importantly, from the idolatrous tendencies of religion itself. Each monotheistic religion has its characteristic ways of domesticating True Divinity, of taming God's demands so that they do not ra...

Why supernatural beliefs are at odds with a true understanding of the afterlifeIn this extraordinary book, Mark Johnston sets out a new understanding of personal identity and the self, thereby providing a purely naturalistic account of surviving death.Death threatens our sense of the importance of goodness. The threat can be met if there is, as Socrates said, "something in death that is better for the good than for the bad." Yet, as Johnston shows, all exis...

When Australians defended against Rommel' s tanks at Tobruk and Alamein, tackled paratroopers landing among them on Crete, attacked French Foreign Legionnaires in Syrian forts, held off Japanese tanks in Malaya, fought hand-to-hand on the Kokoda Track, and took on well-hidden and tenacious Japanese soldiers in countless grim jungle locations, brave individuals risked everything to bring victory. Australian soldiers performed acts of remarkable bravery in the roles of stretcher-bearers and ...

In Whispering Death, Mark Johnston, one of Australia's leading experts on World War II, explains vividly how more than 130,000 Australian airmen fought Japan from the Pacific War's first hours in 1941 to its last in 1945. They clashed over a vast area, from India to Noumea, Bass Strait to the Philippines. Merely flying over that region's boundless oceans and wild weather was dangerous enough for Australia's fliers, but their formidable enemies made it much more perilous. In their ...

Leading military historian Mark Johnston tells stories of the courage of individual soldiers across every battle in which Australians fought in World War II.When Australians defended against Rommel’s tanks at Tobruk and Alamein, tackled paratroopers landing among them on Crete, attacked French Foreign Legionnaires in Syrian forts, held off Japanese tanks in Malaya, fought hand-to-hand on the Kokoda Track, and took on well-hidden and tenacious Japanese in countless ...

This is a unique and powerful visual history of the men who fought in the 9th Division, the most famous Australian division of World War II. Many never before published photographs, some from veterans' private collections, illustrate dramatic and moving stories of Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea and Borneo.The 9th Division gained renown as 'Rats of Tobruk' in 1941, were eulogised as 'that magnificent 9th' by General Montgomery after the battle of El Alamein in 1942, and drew praise ...

Anzacs in the Middle East is a compelling exploration of the experiences of soldiers who fought in the Middle East during World War II. Spurred by a sense of adventure and duty, they set sail to countries of which they knew very little. The book examines the relationships between Australians and their allies and also how they related to the local people: Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians. Mark Johnston draws on extensive research to provide a new perspective on the famo...

Scotland, 1585. Lord Warden is leading a troop of his clansmen back home. Pursued by Lord Maxwell, a battle of survival is about to commence. Meanwhile, Lady Margaret and her son, James eagerly await, looking out over the battlements of Lochwood Castle.The ensuing battle leads to a sequence of events that would reverberate down the ages through history. Referred to previously as border clans, The Border Reivers would be used throughout the world as mercenary soldiers because of the...