Line of Fire

· Bolinda · Narrated by David Tredinnick
Audiobook
8 hr 56 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

It's hard to imagine this story as being part of our past, but in 1942, an 11-year-old Australian boy, Richard Manson, and his parents either side of him, were shot by the Japanese for suspected spying in Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. Acclaimed Fourth Estate author and award-winning science journalist Ian Townsend has uncovered a fascinating story of WWII, little known to most Australians. Centring on the hotspot (in every sense) that was Rabaul in WWII, his account is an intriguing narrative, which weaves together Australian history, military conflict and science – with volcanology being the peculiar science which drew the Americans, Japanese and Australians together in conflict in the Pacific in the 1940s – and the story of one ordinary but doomed Australian family. Like The Hare with Amber Eyes, this is a fascinating work of narrative non-fiction, a story of spies, volcanoes, history, conflict and war, set against the romantic, dramatic and ultimately tragic backdrop of Rabaul in WWII.

About the author

Ian Townsend is a journalist and radio documentary maker who worked for many years with ABC Radio National. He has won numerous awards for journalism, including four national Eureka Prizes for science and medical journalism and an Australian Human Rights Award. His first novel, Affection, based on the 1900 outbreak of plague in Townsville, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, the Colin Roderick Award, the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction, the National Year of Reading, and was long-listed for the Dublin IMPAC award.

David has been narrating audiobooks for over 25 years, working on a number of award-winning titles. He has also worked extensively in theatre, radio, film and television, most notably appearing in all four seasons of The Secret Life of Us. When not lending his voice to books he is employed as an archivist, audio producer and librarian.

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