Read more
On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history. This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life. It is an epic tale of farm boys, drovers, bank clerks, dentists, poets and scoundrels transported to fight a war half a world away, and is full of incredible characters: from Major Banjo Paterson to Lawrence of Arabia; the brilliant writer Trooper Ion Idriess and the humble General Harry Chauvel; the tearaway Test fast bowler 'Tibby' Cotter and the infamous warhorse, Bill the Bastard. All have their part to play in the enthralling, sprawling drama of the Australian Light Horse.
About the author
Peter FitzSimons AM is Australia's bestselling non-fiction writer, and for the past 39 years has also been a journalist and columnist with the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and the SUN-HERALD.
He is the author of a number of highly successful books, including BREAKER MORANT, BURKE AND WILLS, MONASH'S MASTERPIECE, KOKODA, NED KELLY and GALLIPOLI, as well as biographies of such notable Australians as Sir Douglas Mawson, Nancy Wake and John Eales. His passion is to tell Australian stories, our own stories: of great men and women, of stirring events in our history.
Peter grew up on a farm north of Sydney, went to boarding school in Sydney and attended Sydney University. An ex-Wallaby, he also lived for several years in rural France and Italy, playing rugby for regional clubs. He and his wife, Lisa Wilkinson AM - journalist, magazine editor and television presenter - have three children; they live in Sydney.
Summary
From the bestselling author of Kokoda and Gallipoli, the extraordinary story of the Australian Light Horse, their defining World War I battle: the iconic cavalry charge at Beersheba in October 1917, and the brave men who built the legend.
