1
of
1
The Nashos' War: Australia's national servicemen and Vietnam
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 34 ratings, 4 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2700
$3000
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
The Nashos' War: Australia's national servicemen and Vietnam
$2700
$3000
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Latest News
Review of Home Again by Jon Toogood
When it was revealed that Jon Toogood was to release a memoir I pretty much jumped out...
What I Read (and Played) in Bali
I always read more when I travel. There’s the flight over, the hotel breakfast where...
A Seven Sharp Visit and a Huge Thank You!
It's been a busy last week at Rawiri Place before our big move, with a...
A Puzzle for Every Season: Why I Love Seasonal Puzzles
From spooky Halloween puzzles to floral spring scenes and Christmas favourites we bring out every...
The Book Briefing - September 16th
This week there are so many exciting new book announcements out and about with covers,...
See more
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
On 10 March 1965, the first nasho's birthdate was drawn from a lottery barrel at the Department of Labour and National Service in Melbourne. Over the next seven years, a total of 63,740 young Australian men would be drafted into the army and face the prospect of being sent to war. The nashos came from all walks of life—plumbers and dentists, footballers and musicians, Christians and Jews, willing and unwilling. Some spent their two years square-bashing in Singleton. Others went to Vietnam to fight—and die—in Australia's bloodiest battles, including the slaughter at Long Tan.
But our ideas of national service contain strange contradictions and inaccuracies—that the draft was unpopular but militarily necessary; that the nashos in Vietnam all volunteered to go to war; and that they were met by protesters and demonstrations on their return to Australia, rather than the huge welcome-home parades reported at the time. Here, Mark Dapin dramatically deconstructs the folklore of Vietnam and national service.
Drawing on the accounts of over one hundred and fifty former national servicemen, The Nashos' War tells a vastly more personal and nuanced story of national service and Australia's Vietnam War than that previously heard. Most powerfully, it records with extraordinary intensity what it was like to be a bank clerk one day, and fighting for your life in the jungles of Vietnam soon afterwards.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780670078622
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 17 July 2017
Country: Australia
Imprint: Viking Australia
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 31.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 199.0mm
Weight: 364g
Pages: 480
About the Author
Mark Dapin (Author) Mark Dapin is the author of the novels King of the Cross and Spirit House. King of the Cross won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, and Spirit House was long listed for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year and the Royal Society for Literature's Ondaatje Prize. His recent work of military history, The Nashos' War, has been widely acclaimed. He is a PhD candidate at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Saskia Adams (Author) Saskia Adams is a freelance writer and editor. She spent ten years working at Penguin Books before her ever-increasing number of rescue animals necessitated a treechange to the Yarra Valley. In 2011 Saskia co-founded Forever Friends Animal Rescue Inc., which has already saved and rehomed over a thousand dogs, cats, puppies and kittens from death row in pounds and shelters. Her previous books include Unconditional Love- PetRescue's Great Animal Stories and PetRescue's Amazing Dog Stories.
Also by Mark Dapin
View all-
Lest
From Simpson’s donkey and the Emu War to Vietnam and Ben Roberts-Smith, Australian military history is full of events that didn’t happen the way most people think they did. In his inimitable style, award-winning author Mark Dapin sets the record straight. Australia has many stories and statues ‘lest we forget’ our military past. But from Simpson’s donkey to Ben Roberts-Smith,...Paperback$3600Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Carnage
Millions have been entertained by the viral video of a man being arrested after a ‘succulent Chinese meal’. But when Mark Dapin investigated, it emerged that this man's story went to the heart of the Australian underworld. A true crime cult classic in the making. Whether you know it as the ‘succulent Chinese meal’ video, or ‘democracy manifest’, chances are...Paperback$3600Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Carnage
Millions have been entertained by the viral video of a man being arrested after a 'succulent Chinese meal'. But when Mark Dapin investigated, it emerged that this man's story went to the heart of the Australian underworld. A true crime cult classic in the making. This edition featuring a new Afterword. Whether you know it as the 'succulent Chinese meal'...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Australia's Vietnam
2019 Nib Military History Prize Finalist 'This book should be read by anyone interested in the way myths become accepted as history.' - Peter Edwards, author of Australia and the Vietnam War Why everything you think you know about Australia's Vietnam War is wrong. When journalist and historian Mark Dapin first interviewed Vietnam veterans and wrote about the war, he...Paperback$9400Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Prison Break
Dapin's words cut into the organs of the criminal underworld like a surgeon's knife! DAVID McMILLAN, Klong Prem Central Prison Bangkok escapee Mark Dapin has built a rapport with some of Australia's most serious criminals. It is a rapport that gives him an edge over other authors that cannot be replicated. BERNIE MATTHEWS, Long Bay Correctional Centre escapee On a...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The First Murderer I Ever Met
For more than thirty years, Mark Dapin has been hanging out with crooks, and both types of cop. In this gripping, often funny and always surprising book, he sorts the tall stories from the truth about true crime, showing us what some of Australia’s most famous felons are really like. Mark Dapin was still in school when he met his...Paperback$4199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lest
From Simpson’s donkey and the Emu War to Vietnam and Ben Roberts-Smith, Australian military history is full of events that didn’t happen the way most people think they did. In his inimitable style, award-winning author Mark Dapin sets the record straight.Australia has many stories and statues ‘lest we forget’ our military past. But from Simpson’s donkey to Ben Roberts-Smith, our...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from History & Military
View all-
Saving Elli
One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Spy and the Traitor
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...Paperback$2100Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseSuicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Wager
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian 'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator 'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book... It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Man's Search For Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Discipline
Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...Paperback$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New Release -
Pre-orderDad, I Want to Hear Your Story (Deluxe Edition)
Capture His Story, Honor His Legacy The Official Hear Your Story Collection Your dad's story is more than just memories-it's a journey filled with wisdom, experiences, and defining moments that shaped his life. Dad, I Want to Hear Your Story is a guided journal that gives him the chance to share those stories in his own words, creating a legacy...Hardback$4999Elsewhere:$5500Unit price /UnavailableOut 20 Nov 2026Pre-order -
Shattered Lands
'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' – PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation … both original and important' – MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Keep Calm – We Are Coming
Keep Calm — We Are Coming briefly backgrounds the New Zealand Special Air Service deployment in Afghanistan — then goes into action. While primarily training Afghan forces, in Kabul the NZSAS had to respond to a series of ‘spectacular attacks’ by heavily armed Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and determined to inflict major casualties. In the words of those who...Paperback$4000Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Betrayal
‘Tom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.’ Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...Paperback$3499Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseServiceman J
A new edition of the bestselling 2024 memoir by a former NZSAS commander, on serving in Afghanistan over four deployments and operating at the edge of his limits. 'Frighteningly, devastatingly real.' - The Post In 2011, following the Taliban siege on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, an SAS soldier identified only as Serviceman J was awarded New Zealand's second highest military honour...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
History & Military lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
