The gripping first-hand account of the battle that made the Rats of Tobruk an Australian legend.

March 1941. The Allied forces have suffered one brutal defeat after another. For Hitler’s forces the conquest of Egypt, and the rich oil fields of the Middle East, lie next on the horizon. All that stand in their way are a few Australian brigades defending a town called Tobruk.

For eight months the Australian Imperial Forces defended the North African coastal fortress, battling almost unbeatable odds in the dust and the heat of the Libran desert. Under the command of General Morshead, the troops used unorthodox methods and sheer grit to withstand the superior might of General Rommel’s elite ‘Afrika Korps’.

In this timeless classic, celebrated war correspondent Chester Wilmot shows us why dogged resistance, courage and sacrifice have become synonymous with the spirit of Australian troops.

‘Truly one of the greats of Australian journalism’ PETER FITZSIMONS