Mia Martin Hobbs and Joan Beaumont, "Challenging Anzac: Stories That Don't Fit the Legend" (NewSouth, 2026)

About this episode

The episode discusses the book 'Challenging Anzac', which explores narratives that contradict the traditional Anzac legend in Australian history.

Challenging Anzac: Stories that don’t fit the legend Edited by Mia Martin Hobbs, Carolyn Holbrook, The Anzac legend has shaped Australia’s national identity for more than a century. Yet many experiences of war do not fit comfortably within this. In Challenging Anzac, leading historians explore some of these stories: Aboriginal activists, deserters on the Western Front, veterans who took their own lives and soldiers who became radicalized by their service. They reveal how episodes in Australia’s war history that unsettled the Anzac legend – from the relief of Tobruk, nuclear testing on Australian soil and feminist protests against war, to alleged atrocities in Afghanistan – have been elided or adapted to ‘fit’ the legend. Edited by award-winning historians Mia Martin Hobbs, Carolyn Holbrook and Joan Beaumont, Challenging Anzac examines how the reality of warfare has always been at odds with mythic representation and considers why, despite this, the Anzac legend has survived. Mia Martin Hobbs is an oral historian of war and conflict, with a research focus on the Vietnam War, War on Terror, gender, peace, security and postwar reconciliation. Her first book, Return to Vietnam: An…

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Guests: Mia Martin Hobbs, Joan Beaumont

Topics covered

• Anzac legend
• Australian war history
• veteran experiences
• historical narratives
• myth vs reality
• Aboriginal activism
• war and identity

Keywords

• Anzac legend
• war history
• veterans
• Aboriginal activists
• deserters
• feminist protests
• Australian identity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Challenging Anzac: Stories That Don't Fit the Legend

Places: Australia

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