Australia’s Vietnam Myth vs history

When Mark Dapin first interviewed Vietnam veterans and wrote about the war, he swallowed (and regurgitated) every misconception. He wasn’t alone. In Australia's Vietnam, Dapin reveals that every stage of Australia’s commitment to the Vietnam War has been misunderstood, misinterpreted and shrouded in myth. From army claims that every national serviceman was a volunteer; and the level of atrocities committed by Australian troops; to the belief there were no welcome home parades until the late 1980s and returned soldiers were met by angry protesters. Australia's Vietnam is a major contribution to the understanding of Australia’s experience of the war and will change the way we think about memory and military history.

Mark Dapin is a novelist, journalist and historian. The Nashos’ War: Australia’s national servicemen and Vietnam, won the People’s Choice Prize at the 2015 Nib Waverley Library Awards and was shortlisted for the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Award for non-fiction. His novel Spirit House, about Jewish prisoners of war on the Burma Railway, was shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year. He is the author of Jewish Anzacs: Jews in the Australian military (NewSouth) and editor of The Penguin Book of Australian War Writing.