Kevin Blackburn Knihy

The book explores the intersection of war and sport, particularly how Anzac Day commemorates Australia's war dead through athletic events. It delves into the origins of this tradition at Gallipoli in 1915, highlighting the influence of late Victorian and Edwardian concepts of masculinity that linked sporting excellence to battlefield valor. The evolution of these ideas illustrates how sport has become a vital part of honoring and remembering those who served in war.

The book offers an in-depth analysis of the Fall of Singapore, highlighting the complex dynamics between Winston Churchill and local military leaders. It explores the strategic miscalculations and tensions that contributed to this pivotal event in World War II, providing a comprehensive overview of the historical context and implications surrounding the fall.

Set against the backdrop of Japanese World War II POW camps, this narrative reveals how sport emerged as a vital source of hope and resilience for 50,000 Australian and British soldiers after the fall of Singapore. It highlights the inspiring stories of prisoners who, despite facing deprivation and brutality, found ways to maintain their humanity through athletic competition. This absorbing account sheds light on the power of sport to uplift spirits and foster camaraderie in the darkest of times.

Singapore under the ruling People’s Action Party government has been categorized as a developmental state which has utilized education as an instrument of its economic policies and nation-building agenda. However, contrary to accepted assumptions, the use of education by the state to promote economic growth did not begin with the coming to power of the People’s Action Party in 1959. In Singapore, the colonial state had been using education to meet the demands of its colonial economy well before the rise of the post-independence developmental state. Education, Industrialization and the End of Empire in Singapore examines how the state’s use of education as an instrument of economic policy had its origins in the colonial economy and intensified during the process of decolonization. By covering this process the history of vocational and technical education and its relationship with the economy is traced from the colonial era through to decolonization and into the early postcolonial period.