SAXBY, Claire (text) Max Berry (illus.) Meet the ANZACS Random House, 2014 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9780857981929 SCIS 1642294
Part of the series designed to celebrate Australian history by relating stories of extraordinary men and women who have shaped our nation, this book cannot be overlooked. ANZAC (as we all should know by now) stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It is the name given to the Australian and New Zealand troops who landed at Gallipoli in World War I (25 April 1915) and is now a symbol of bravery and mateship. Here is told the story of how the ANZAC legend began, how World War I started in 1914, how patriotism and fervour caused men worldwide to enlist in their own armies and what came next. It took boredom, training and the growth of fear as the reality of war with all its horrors set in to bring out the best of mateship in the troops. And so ANZAC was born. Clearly related facts and storyline complemented by the illustrations and a helpful Timeline at the end make for an interesting and useful read. RT