Peter Thompson

PACIFIC FURY

How Australia and her Allies Defeated the Japanese Scourge

PEARL HARBOR; THE FALL OF SINGAPORE; CURTIN'S FIGHT WITH CHURCHILL; THE BOMBING OF DARWIN; POW CAMPS; THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY; KOKODA; BUNA; KAMIKAZE PILOTS; HIROSHIMA

These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on the one hand and British deception on the other.
After a conflict that took an unimaginable number of lives and ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen, the Allies emerged victorious. Australia, however, was criticised by Churchill and his generals for showing cowardice in the face of the enemy and for not caring about the fate of other nations. The endorsement of these claims by several military historians today shows that the smear has not gone away. Until now.
Peter Thompson presents, for the first time, an account of the conflict that places Australian voices and action at the heart of the struggle.
Based on exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses and written with all the pace and verve you would expect of a master storyteller, Pacific Fury brings the people and the battles to life in a sensational history not to be bettered in a generation.

To order a copy of Pacific Fury: www.randomhouse.com.au

The Battle for Singapore

The Fall of Singapore in February 1942 is a military disaster of enduring fascination and seemingly unshakable myth. For the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the island, Peter Thompson tells the story of the Malayan Campaign, the Siege of Singapore and the Japanese Occupation through the eyes of those who were there - the soldiers of all nationalities and members of Singapore's beleaguered population. The Battle for Singapore by Peter Thompson (Piatkus Books, August 2005). New paperback edition July 2006

The Battle for Singapore is the latest and perhaps the most readable account of events before, during and after the black day in February 1942 when 100,000 British and Australian troops were caught with their defences down and surrendered to an ill-equipped Japanese force of only 30,000. Australian author Peter Thompson has worked hard in his researches to produce a stylishly pacy, dramatic and vivid narrative, enlivened by survivors' first-hand accounts, which will hook the most casual of readers. - SOLDIER: The magazine of the British Army