Carolyn Holbrook

Carolyn Holbrook is an Alfred Deakin Research Fellow at Deakin University. She is the author of Anzac: The unauthorised biography (NewSouth, 2014), which won the New South Wales Premiers’ History Award and the Queensland Premiers’ Literary Award. She is the convenor of the Australian Policy and History network, www.aph.org.au.

Carolyn Holbrook reviews 'The Battle Within: POWs in postwar Australia' by Christina Twomey

August 2018, no. 403 • 25 June 2018

The director of the Australian War Memorial, Brendan Nelson, recently announced plans for a $500 million underground expansion of the memorial. In justifying the expenditure, Nelson claimed that commemoration ‘is an extremely important part of the therapeutic milieu’ for returning soldiers; ‘I’ve particularly learned from the Vietnam experience it is important to tell the stories and tell ... (read more)

Carolyn Holbrook reviews 'Hell-Bent: Australia's leap into the Great War' by Douglas Newton

January-February 2015, no. 368 • 01 January 2015

Reading about the ‘khaki election’ of 1914 in Douglas Newton’s Hell-Bent evokes a sense of déjà vu in 2014, as Australia embarks on another war in the Middle East. During the campaign of 1914, Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Labor leader Andrew Fisher jostled to prove their loyalty to Britain and their enthusiasm for the impending war. Fisher’s efforts to match and outdo the conservative ... (read more)