The Barbarians: A Soldier's New Guinea Diary
| Author | Peter Pinney |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | World War Two |
| Publisher | University of Queensland Press |
Publication date | 1988 |
| Publication place | Australia |
The Barbarians: A Soldier's New Guinea Diary is a 1988 memoir/novel by Peter Pinney based on his experiences in World War Two recorded in his diary in 1943.
It was followed by other accounts of Pinney's war service, The Glass Cannon (set in Bougainville in 1944) and The Devil's Garden (in the Solomons in 1945). The books make up a trilogy.[1]
Reception
Army magazine said it "would have to rate as one of the best fictional accounts of a Diggers experience in any war and is highly recommended."[2]
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote "rather than accounts of heroic deeds and remarkable achievements this very personal memoir includes the pettiness and waste, the antagonism of the men towards some of their officers, the waiting and the bloody mindedness."[3]
Other books
- The Glass Cannon: A Bougainville Diary 1944-45 (1990) - based on Pinney's diaries during the Bougainville campaign. The Age called it "extraordinary".[4] The Canberra Times called it "evocative".[5]
- The Devil's Garden: Solomon Islands War Diary, 1945 (1992). The Canberra Times said the book "presents a realistic soldier's-eye view of the bitterness and the tragedy. It concerns itself also with the impact the strangers' war had upon the natives of the Solomon Islands, whose territory was used as the arena."[6]
References
- ^ Richard White and Claire Petrie, 'Pinney, Peter Patrick (1922–1992)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pinney-peter-patrick-18951/text30565, published online 2016, accessed online 23 November 2025.
- ^ "BOOK REVIEWS". Army. No. 728. Australia, Australia. 10 November 1988. p. 6. Retrieved 23 November 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "New paperbacks". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 1988. p. 89.
- ^ "Antics to predict boredom". The Age. 8 February 1992. p. 8 Books extra.
- ^ "Extraordinary wartime jungle experience". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 444. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 3 April 1991. p. 8. Retrieved 23 November 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "A realistic view of war". The Canberra Times. Vol. 66, no. 20, 831. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 25 April 1992. p. 8 (Saturday Magazine). Retrieved 23 November 2025 – via National Library of Australia.