Defining year in our history
War on Our Doorstep

Edited by Gabrielle Chan. Hardie Grant Books. 316pp. $29.95

Reviewer :: Cpl Alisha Welch

The national significance of Gallipoli has resulted in many Australians considering 1915 to be Australia’s unofficial year of birth.

After reading this captivating account of wartime history, one can only conclude that 1942 was also a defining moment in our nationhood.

In 1942 Australia was touched physically and emotionally by world events and succeeded in repelling Japanese attempts to threaten the mainland.

War on Our Doorstep is a month-by-month account of the turbulent year as told by soldiers and civilians at the frontline.

Edited by journalist Gabrielle Chan, this interesting book features disturbingly personal experiences of the war.

War on Our Doorstep outlines the mateship, desperation and determination shared by all Australians at the time.

It makes the reader shudder when realising how close Australia actually came to being invaded by the Japanese. A must read.

.