The achievements of Australian servicemen and women have played a central role in shaping Australia’s national identity. While we rightly commemorate the sacrifices of Australians in war, we have ignored those who returned to Australia and their struggles to reintegrate into society. The Cost of War: War, Return and the Re-Shaping of Australian Culture focuses on the Anzacs who returned from the two world wars, the Korean War and Vietnam. Many of the challenges outlined in the book remain pressing and relevant for veterans of other conflicts — notably Afghanistan and Iraq — and conflicts yet to come.
The Cost of War examines the effects of combat, the emotional and physical scars borne by returned men and women, the impact on their families and friends, and the efforts of Australians to understand the physical, psychological, and cultural wounds of war. Although the book presents the other side of the Anzac experience, it is also an appreciation of how Australians have turned something so painful into a mythology of enduring significance, shaping Australian culture in profound ways. It is also a plea for the importance of understanding the aftermath of war for ordinary Australians and our collective responsibility to consider how best to support veterans and their families into the future.
