Review of John A. Moses and George F. Davis, 'Anzac Day Origins: Canon D. J. Garland and Trans-Tasman Commemoration': Barton Books, Barton, 2013, pbk, ISBN 9781921577 16 1, xxxii, 417 pp

Abstract

2014 marks the centenary of the First World War, and, within Australia, it is timely for us to consider the origins of the ever-strengthening Anzac legend. In 'Anzac Day Origins: Canon D. J. Garland and Trans-Tasman Commemoration', authors John A. Moses and George F. Davis seek to present a history of the early development of Anzac Day activities in Australia and New Zealand, with their ultimate aim being to 'answer some important questions about the purpose and nature of the day: why do we have it and how did it evolve to be our only genuinely national day?' (p. xviii). In the view of Moses and Davis, the origins of Anzac Day were 'shaped largely in the mind of one extraordinarily energetic, public-spirited and organisationally gifted Anglo-Catholic priest, Canon David John Garland' (p. 9), and the Anzac Day Commemoration Committee (ADCC) of which he was a part.