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image of person or book cover 3238315037000448904.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon The Twenty Thousand Thieves single work   novel   war literature  
First known date: 1951 Issue Details: First known date: 1951... 1951 The Twenty Thousand Thieves
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Their officers called them a stinking, lazy, drunken rabble and their friends said they took the colonel prisoner, burnt down their officers' mess and drove off the military police with heavy rifle-fire. This is the unforgettable story of the gallant men of the A.I.F.: the fearless and fatalistic Diggers of the Western Desert.

'Twenty thousand men were on their way to the deserts of Egypt and Libya: some had joined up for adventure, some were on the run from the police, for others, the army meant three meals a day and a bed to sleep in. From an induction camp in Australia to the siege of Tobruk, the savage intensity of Second X Battalion's experiences is not for the faint hearted. How soon will death silence so many of these brave voices and how many will ring out beyond the brutality of the battlefield?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Head of Zeus ed.)

Notes

  • Epigraph: 'What do they know of the world? Does living mean / Quite simply, Mother, to die very young? / Good for this, good for that. My good friends I am leaving - / Twenty years old - good for the armed services.'
  • Author's note explains the characterisation.
  • Epigraph 2: In 1951 edition, the following also appears: 'In the pictures in the Versailles Gallery it's all generals, flags and clouds. But in reality it's mud and lice' ('The Fall of Paris' by Ilya Ehrenburg).
  • The Muller edition was selected by the Daily Graphic as its book of the month for October, 1952.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Newmont , 1951 .
      Extent: 416p.
      Edition info: 1st Ed.
      Note/s:
      • Glossary
      • Lambert registered Newmont publishing house; this ed. was the only one published by Newmont. Muller (London) took it over.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Frederick Muller ,
      1952 .
      Extent: 317p.
      Reprinted: 1953 , 1954
      Note/s:
      • Also sound recording
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Transworld Australia ,
      1963 .
      Extent: 253p.
      Note/s:
      • 'A Corgi book.' Cover: 'The first complete and unabridged paperback edition of Eric Lambert's famous novel of the desert campaign.'
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Bantam Books ,
      1966 .
      Extent: 282p.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Corgi Books ,
      1976 .
      Extent: 254p.
      ISBN: 0552101915 (pbk)
    • South Yarra, South Yarra - Glen Iris area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Currey O'Neil , 1982 .
      Extent: 317p.
      ISBN: 0855506806
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Head of Zeus ,
      2015 .
      image of person or book cover 3238315037000448904.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 304p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 11 December 2015.
      ISBN: 9781784975746
Alternative title: Veinte mil ladrones : novela
Language: Spanish

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

"We Were the Rats" and "The Twenty Thousand Thieves" : Fictionalizing an Episode of Australian History Genevieve Laigle , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth , Spring vol. 20 no. 2 1998; (p. 87-99)
War Literature 1890-1980 Robin Gerster , 1988 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , vol. 13 no. 4 1988; (p. 337-352)
The Usable Past : Australian War Fiction of the 1950s Rick Hosking , 1985 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 12 no. 2 1985; (p. 234-247)
The Getting of Manhood David Robert Walker , 1979 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Popular Culture 1979; (p. 121-144)
The Veterans S. M. S. , 1955 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 5 1955; (p. 30-31)

— Review of The Veterans Eric Lambert , 1954 single work novel ; The Twenty Thousand Thieves Eric Lambert , 1951 single work novel
The Veterans S. M. S. , 1955 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 5 1955; (p. 30-31)

— Review of The Veterans Eric Lambert , 1954 single work novel ; The Twenty Thousand Thieves Eric Lambert , 1951 single work novel
[Review] The Twenty Thousand Thieves Ian Mair , 1951 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 10 no. 3 1951; (p. 300-301)

— Review of The Twenty Thousand Thieves Eric Lambert , 1951 single work novel
Comparing the Critics 1951 single work review
— Appears in: The Austrovert , no. 5 1951; (p. 7)

— Review of The Twenty Thousand Thieves Eric Lambert , 1951 single work novel
The Ninth Get Their Novel 1951 single work review
— Appears in: The Austrovert , no. 4 1951; (p. 6)

— Review of The Twenty Thousand Thieves Eric Lambert , 1951 single work novel
Propaganda Novel 1951 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 17 October vol. 72 no. 3740 1951; (p. 2,35)

— Review of The Twenty Thousand Thieves Eric Lambert , 1951 single work novel
The Getting of Manhood David Robert Walker , 1979 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Popular Culture 1979; (p. 121-144)
War Literature 1890-1980 Robin Gerster , 1988 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , vol. 13 no. 4 1988; (p. 337-352)
The Usable Past : Australian War Fiction of the 1950s Rick Hosking , 1985 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 12 no. 2 1985; (p. 234-247)
"We Were the Rats" and "The Twenty Thousand Thieves" : Fictionalizing an Episode of Australian History Genevieve Laigle , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth , Spring vol. 20 no. 2 1998; (p. 87-99)
Last amended 14 Oct 2019 14:54:06
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