Authors Bio, not available
"Drawing extensively on diary entries, papers and personal
interviews with Australian soldiers, Gerster paints an intricate
portrait of the moral and cultural disorientation felt by the
Aussie "conquerors" as they came to terms with not only an enemy
decimated by atomic horror but also their own inherent
prejudices...the book is an immense achievement of research and a
timely reminder of the tightrope balance of foreign occupation, a
message that has particular relevance in today's post-9/11 climate.
It will be particularly popular among avid history readers looking
for a new angle on the wartime Australian experience."
--Bookseller & Publisher "Robin Gerster is a superb writer and in
his hands the numerous anecdotes, incidents and details of the
occupation gleaned from extensive combing of archives, newspapers,
diaries and novels come to life. In lesser hands, the wealth of
individual observations might weigh down the narrative, but one of
the strengths of Atomic Sunshine is its concentration on personal
encounters and perceptions."
--Japan Times "elegant and sardonic history..."
--Sydney Morning Herald "This troubling, significant book offers us
a crucible of what Australians can be like in victory over a justly
hated enemy."
--The Age "...A well-written and highly readable account of an
interesting episode in Australian history and a valuable addition
to the growing literature on the history of Australia's relations
with Asia."
--The International History Review "Gerster, who draws on a rich
supply of sources, tells an absorbing story of two nations in a
state of change."
--The Sunday Age "Gerster's Travels in Atomic Sunshine is a
scholarly, superbly documented study and a narrative written in a
highly readable style. It incorporates provocative arguments and
sophisticated insights without becoming "academic". It is a book
that is bound to become a classic social history of a major era of
the Australian-Japanese postwar encounter."
--David Palmer, Transnational Literature "In a rich meeting of
history and literature, Gerster explores the big issues of race,
culture, and national identity as victor and vanquished meet in the
aftermath of a world war. The love, betrayal, greed, generosity,
compassion, and casual brutality of individuals are his evidence
and the strength of his narrative."
--Hank Nelson "Robin Gerster's brilliant account of the
little-known story of Australia's occupation force provides new,
and often unsettling, insights into Australian responses to Japan
and the Japanese at the end of the Second World War. Amid the
atomic wasteland of Hiroshima, Australians and Japanese fraternized
across the barriers of language, history, and different wartime
experiences. Gerster's evocative cultural history of
Australian-Japanese relations is as hard-hitting as it is
perceptive."
--Kate Darian-Smith "Gerster has a fascinating story to tell and he
has done so in a lively and compelling narrative way that makes
Travels in Atomic Sunshine accessible to readers well beyond the
historical profession."
--judges' comments from the 2009 NSW Premier's History Awards "This
is a fascinating study of cross-cultural contact and the ways that
World War 2 changed the attitudes of many Australians...Of
particular note is Gerster's nuanced and careful analysis of
fiction and memoir, which allows a candour and intimacy not always
accessible in other sources."
--judges' comments from the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian
History
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