Australian author, Paula Astridge, was born in the NSW country town of Inverell in 1958. Later moving to Sydney, she worked for Rolling Stone Magazine and the newspaper industry before co-founding a successful advertising agency and then pursuing her writing career on a full-time basis. Four of her books are focused on WWII from the German perspective:: Golden Boy, In the Way of the Reich, Kill The Fuhrer and Rocket Man, which respectively profile the enigmatic Albert Speer; Hermann and Albert Goering, Count Claus von Stauffenberg and Wernher von Braun -- the contentious inventor of the V-2 rocket that devastated London and his Apollo 11, which flew us to the moon.Astridge moves with her next two books to concentrate on the largely unknown role Australia played in world history: Waltzing Dixie and Bad Hand tackle, in turn, the untold story of the men from Australia who fought in the American Civil War, and the final solution to the mystery of Fletcher Christian after the Bounty mutiny. Both books piqued interest in the film industry and Bad Hand was nominated for the prestigious UK Mountbatten Maritime Literary Award by Britain’s First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff.While her book, Deep Sleep, delved into the sinking of the Titanic and the dramatic lives of the people it forever affected, her most recent three books have returned to the World Wars: Scallywag looking into the murky world of Allied espionage and the mysterious wartime disappearance of Flight 777 over the Bay of Biscay, while Because Our Fathers Lied was written in tribute to the part Australia played in WWI and its outstanding commanders who brought victory home. And now comes her latest book: Blame Me all about Australia’s controversial Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Thomas Blamey and his ongoing feud with General John Lavarack during WWII. It is an exciting saga that spans both World Wars, along with all the intrigue, among military and political circles, that happened in between.
Description
Sir Thomas Blamey was Australia’s first and only Field Marshal, yet in WWII, he was called a coward and would never be forgiven for calling his men the same.Throughout his exceptional career and both World Wars, Blamey would cause controversy in so many ways – from brothels to battlefields, from his questionable performance as Police Commissioner, to playing his part in politics.Nothing held Blamey back in his relentless climb to the top, yet despite going head-to-head and winning out against the likes of Winston Churchill, Robert Menzies and Douglas Macarthur, there was one man who forever stood in his way -- Australia’s General John Lavarack, who with a brilliance that rivalled Blamey’s own, had to be held back at all costs. Everything about Lavarack put Blamey’s instincts on alert sparking competition and a much-resented jealousy that Blamey preferred to call disdain. It was a contempt which would flourish into a life-long feud between them with Blamey making it his business to rob Lavarack of any opportunity that might see his star rise above his own. While Blamey made the dubious decision to unfairly relieve two top-ranking officers, Generals Rowell and Allen, from their WWII New Guinea command, it was Lavarack who he was more determined to undermine and forever keep his subordinate. The best way he could do it was to repeatedly refuse Lavarack any form of field command that might give him the stage to shine. So intent was Blamey on keeping Lavarack under his thumb that, throughout WWII, he wasn’t sure whether it was better to hold the upper hand over him or Hitler.This is the story of their lives and not-so-private war -- an exciting epic that spans both World Wars and all the intrigues that lay between.