Shattered Anzacs

‘Shattered Anzacs opens our eyes to the experiences of men disabled by the First World War - 90,000 of them, far more than the 60,000 dead. With compassion and a scrupulous eye, Marina Larsson explores the impact of war disability on the lives of soldiers and their kin, and reveals the awful burden of the Anzac legend on men no longer able to embody the ideal of ‘manly independence’. Eloquently and intimately, she shows us how families bore the brunt of returned soldiers’ physical and mental impairments day after day.’ - Ken Inglis, award-winning author of ‘Sacred Places’ ‘Shattered Anzacs is a landmark study of Australians at war. Marina Larsson is to be congratulated on her discriminating use of the historical imagination and deft evocation of evidence. Her work reminds the reader of the unresolved and ongoing cost of war’ to the generation who experienced it and opens up new and exciting areas of historical enquiry. An impressive achievement.’ - Bruce Scates, Director, National Australian Studies Centre at Monash University, and author of ‘Return to Gallipoli’ ‘Who really looked after our damaged diggers? It was their families. Marina Larsson forces us to rethink the aftermath of the Great War and poignantly reveals sufferings that have been hidden.’ - John Hirst, Emeritus Scholar at LaTrobe University

Marina Larsson has published widely on war and repatriation history and is also an expert on disability and gender history. She received the Australian Historical Association’s biennial Serle Award in 2008 for her postgraduate thesis in Australian history.