‘Pro patria mori’, Meanjin, 63, 3, Spring 2004, pp. 3-12
Often in times of war, art and literature can become part of a number of forces that legitimate or sugar-coat warfare. In this essay, the author discusses first the links between historical battles, the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava and the charge of the Light Horse at The Nek, and then the ways that the two battles have since been represented in literature and film. Particularly important is the way that representations of the Battle of Balaclava came to support much of the dutiful heroism of the Anzac myth. An extract. A related 2005 article by the same author.