Backbencher

The book I have chosen to do a review on is "The Anzac Illusion" and was written by E.M. Andrews. This book is an in-depth analysis of Australian-British relations before, during, and immediately after World War I. Before the war Australian's, for the most part, felt they were part of the British empire, rather than as independent Australians. They believed Britain was the best country in the world and that Britains were the best people in the world. This all changed when the war got underway. The Australian soldiers got to meet the British soldiers face to face, and fought with them. They quickly realized the British were not the "best" in the world and it kind of took the wind out of the Australians sail. They had believed before that the British were almost like a mythic people who were the best in the world at everything. When they fought with them and realized they were just as good fighters, if not better in many cases, their opinions of the British changed dramatically. They began respecting the British less, while also developing a sense of pride in being "Australian". The British also felt they were better than the Australian's, and this angered the Australian's. As the war progressed, national pride in "Australia" continued to grow, while pride in Britain continued to decline. By the end of the war the majority of Australian's citizens, including people who did not serve in the war, had developed a tremendous sense of pride in themselves, as Australian's. The theme of this book is World War I destroyed Australia's thought of being members of the British Empire, while strengthened their thought as being Australian's.
I felt this book was put together very well. There were pictures throughout the book, which allowed me to put a name with a face, which was very helpful. The book gave me a history of how Australia began to think more independently, and began to rely on Britain less. The book was a bit wordy at times, but the overall flow was good and it was very educational.