The Spirit of Kokoda celebrates the remarkable achievements of the Diggers who fought the critical battles along one of the most difficult pieces of terrain on earth to save Australia from Japanese invasion in WWII. 1942 was the year that Australia lost its innocence.

By the time the Australian Diggers faced the Japanese invaders in Papua New Guinea, any impartial observer would surely have concluded the Allies had already lost the war.

Drawing on a remarkable inner spirit, the Diggers held on against all the odds to first hold the Japanese and then to finally defeat them.  Patrick examines that spirit and explores how we still draw on it today.

Praise for The Spirit of Kokoda

“It is right up there with Les Carlyon’s Gallipoli.”
— General Peter Cosgrove AC MC
“A passionate and timely book.”
— Christopher Bantink, The Saturday Mercury
“I have today finished reading your book, The Spirit of Kokoda. It is one of the few books that I have read that finishing it was like losing a friend.
It is a marvellous blend of past and present, I am however, not sure that one should enjoy reading such a sad but inspiring tale, bit I did enjoy it and, was enlightened by it and inspired by it. Your treatment of the men was especially warm, not just names in black and white but warm living people.”
— Clifford Charles Wignell, Melbourne
“Congratulations on your book, The Spirit of Kokoda. I am not a great reader of books and so it needs to be something pretty special to hold my interest. The Spirit of Kokoda certainly succeeded in doing this – I couldn’t put the bloody thing down.”
— Peter Bagshaw, Maitland SA
“When I finished reading Patrick Lindsay’s book, The Spirit of Kokoda, Then & Now, I said to myself, ‘That’s the most engaging book I have ever read in my life.’ This book has a lot of personal recollections from veterans who have fought on the Track and from civilians who have trekked recently. Time and time again I found myself knowing exactly what the veterans and trekkers were talking about because I had experienced or thought about those same things during my trek.”
— Michael Webster, Kokoda Trekker

 

 

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