Haverleigh - by James Cumes - Book Review

[aussie]

Haverleigh tells how "a handful of brave kids" turned back an "invincible" Japanese army in two of the toughest campaigns of World War Two - on New Guinea's Kokoda Track and at Milne Bay. The story unfolds against the background of the innocence of the Australian society sixty years ago, the shock of war and a growing maturity afterwards. An authentic story of love and war, Haverleigh comes from an author who himself served with New Guinea Force during Kokoda and Milne Bay and accompanied the "brave kids" on their journey through the most challenging and momentous years of the 20th century.

[aussie]

Reviewer: Barbara Donohue from Las Vegas, NV

Twice I've read HAVERLEIGH, and each time I was mesmerized by the characters, the surroundings, the historical accuracy. The Kokoda Track (The New Guinea campaign, including Milne Bay and typified by the Kokoda Track) is recognized as a defining moment in Australia's history; and yet, few know about it. This was where the invincibility of the Japanese Army was first broken. Dr Cumes doesn't "just" tell the story of young Australians in WWII.

Instead, he takes you there in his words, through his characters and gives you the gift of seeing first-hand what happens to people in the dredges of war. His characters capture your heart, and take you beyond what you think happens before, during and after a war, to the people in and around the war. Dr Cumes gives you cause for retrospection; he allows you to wonder "what if"...

[aussie]

I will read HAVERLEIGH a third time. And I know at the end of the third reading, I will have the same reaction as the first two. As I close the book, I will breathe a deep sigh of gratefulness that Dr Cumes transported me to another time, another place - and for those moments I was reading ..... into another person. If you appreciate excellence in writing and history, and want to meet some incredible characters, you must read this book!

[aussie]

Haverleigh is an Australian family saga of love and war, which tells how "a handful of brave kids" turned back an "invincible" Japanese army in two of the most crucial battles of World War Two - Kokoda and
Milne Bay. Afterwards, it carries us along with them, on their journey through the most challenging and momentous years of the 20th century.

[aussie]

Haverleigh can be ordered direct from James Cumes at -

cresscourt@chello.at

People can order as a regular print book or, if you prefer, as a CD-rom.

Alternatively you can order the book from the American publishers at -

http://www.crystaldreamspub.com/bios...-E/cumes_j.htm

[aussie]

James Cumes is at present in Vienna, Austria; but his base, as an Australian, is always Australia. He was born Queenslander.

Haverleigh is a nom de plume for a little town in south-eastern Queensland where he once lived.

[aussie]

James served in New Guinea, of course, during the war.

http://www.crystaldreamspub.com/bios...-E/cumes_j.htm
http://VictoryOverWant.org