Axis all areas
John Birmingham, author of Final Impact and a former Defence employee, chats to Sig Nick McGratton about his latest novel.
Volume 11, No. 52, September 21, 2006

We have a set of John Birmingham’s Axis of Time trilogy to give away. To enter the competition, email the title of Birmingham’s best known book to simone.heyer@defencenews.gov.au, with your name and postal address. Entries close October 5.

FINAL Impact is the last instalment of John Birmingham’s successful alternate war Axis of Time trilogy.

The author who is best known for his novel He Died with a Falafel in His Hand, once again travels through a wormhole to present us with a fascinating alternate version of World War II.

What would the American and British response have been to an atomic capable Soviet Union? This question and other possible military and political scenarios are put to the reader from an author whose first job was at Russell, Defence HQ.

“My degree was in politics, I was interested in conflict and I attended the Defence interview, where there was a guy from the RAAF. He had a fantastic video of an F-111 screaming down through a valley and unloading 500 pounds of high explosive on a poor gum tree, blowing it to smithereens. He turned to us and said ‘F-111’s damn fine piece of fighting technology’, and I thought to myself, I am going to work with you,” Mr Birmingham said.

For the recently graduated Birmingham, working at Defence was an eye opener.

“One of my first jobs was at Army Personnel my boss was then, Lt-Col, Jim Molan, who was great. It was enormous fun and I learned more from that experience than I did from my four years at uni.”

There are a lot of in-jokes spread throughout the book in which Birmingham takes aim at current celebrities, notable figures, and friends.

The action unrelenting, and there is enough strategic possibilities in the book to keep any armchair general happy.

Final Impact by John Birmingham. Macmillan, 438 pages, $32.95

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