Inferno : Australians on the Western Front

'I love Phillip Bradley's stuff, and this is a very fine book, about one of the most extraordinary times in Australian military history.' - Peter FitzSimons 'We sprang to our feet with one mighty yell and ran and jumped into the German trench and got to work with bayonets and bombs. We were in there no more than half an hour when the German artillery found out and turned their big guns on us. He gave us 7 hours of perfect inferno.' 2 August 1914: German troops cross the border and advance into Belgium and France. Two days later, Britain and Australia declare war on Germany. Three-hundred thousand young Australians will depart to face the Western Front; forty-six thousand will not return. Inferno is the story of Australians fighting in France and Belgium from 1916 to 1918 on the greatest battlefront in history, told through the eyes of the Diggers and the Germans. Each of the major Australian battles is recounted from the soldiers' viewpoints in rich historical detail, much of which has been uncovered for the first time. Written by bestselling military historian Phillip Bradley, Inferno is an epic of our wartime history, a comprehensive account of Australians on the Western Front. Amid the largest tragedy in Australian history, this is the legend of the Diggers, brought to life. 'This is a book rich in detail despite the breadth of the topic. Phillip Bradley is a fine historian with the capacity to engage a general reader's undivided attention.' - Australian Defence Magazine PRAISE FOR PHILLIP BRADLEY '... Phillip Bradley's book on the little-known battle for Wau in 1942-43 is a standout. Bradley has emerged as one of the finest chroniclers of the Australian Army's role in the New Guinea campaign. His previous book On Shaggy Ridge - the story of the 1943-44 Ramu Valley campaign - is a minor classic ... Bradley combines an engrossing telling of the story from the tactical level based on extensive interviews with veterans with a fine appreciation of strategy at the com