Book Review: Fromelles Australia’s Bloodiest Day at War.

Book Review:

Fromelles Australia’s Bloodiest Day at War, by Carole Wilkinson. (2011) $18.99, ISBN 978 1742 031767, The Drum, black dog books.

 

I have just had the privilege of reading another book by Carole Wilkinson who in my opinion is a master storyteller.

In this incredibly moving book, fiction is added to fact as Wilkinson has combined the facts and figures from a horrible and pointless massacre that our ANZACS were forced to enter in WW1 with the fictional diaries of two men who would have been typical of the people who went to war.

The ‘diary entries’ head up each new chapter of the book and so the reader is immediately drawn into the everyday soldier who were behind the story of the battle of Fromelles.

The quantity of information, sourced from an impressive and extensive reference collection, is well laid out.  There are text boxes scattered throughout that give a quick piece of information, for example the graph on page 50 that gives the types of WW1 Machine guns that both sides- Allies and Germans- were using.

There are photographs of soldiers with loved ones and on the battle ground, which only add to the authentic feel of the book.

This book can be read as is or used as an excellent reference book as there is a table of contents, map of the Fromelles area, extensive glossary of terms (do you know what a Blighty is? ), bibliography and index; all the things needed in a good non-fiction work.

The note from the author at the back of the book adds another level of poignancy to the work.

Highly recommended for readers of all ages.

Sharon Greenaway