Jewish Anzacs Jews in the Australian Military

A landmark history of Australian Jews in the military, from the First Fleet to the recent war in Afghanistan. Over 7000 Jews have fought in Australia’s military conflicts, including more than 330 who gave their lives. While Sir John Monash is the best known, in Jewish Anzacs acclaimed writer and historian Mark Dapin reveals the personal, often extraordinary, stories of many other Jewish servicemen and women: from air aces to POWs, from nurses to generals, from generation to generation. Weaving together official records and interviews, private letters, diaries and papers, Dapin explores the diverse lives of his subjects and reflects on their valor, patriotism, mateship, faith and sacrifice.

Mark Dapin is a novelist and historian. His recent military history, 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.