A steady stream of digger films, T.V. series, novels, popular and academic histories led up to the 'V-day' celebrations in 1995 which saw the Government spend eight million dollars on a huge publicity campaign called 'Australia Remembers'. War Memorials in the Australian Landscape is one of the most significant publishing events in the field of Anzac historiography. This is the first comprehensive survey of the role of war memorials in Australian culture, from 1788 to the present. Inglis also builds a persuasive case for the recognition of the 'land wars' between colonists and indigenous Australians within the Australian War Memorial. It may even, though this is everywhere rare, express opposition to the war in question.
People can pick and choose among the messages.
The strength of each, moreover may change over time and new messages may be added - Whatever else they are, the memorials remain sites for mourning victims of war after war. This passage highlights an important distinction between Inglis's approach to digger-nationalism and my own. While Inglis explores the variety of meanings that attached to memorials, I am interested in the limitations that digger-nationalism imposes on interpretation. This is because I am concerned that the prescriptive function of Anzac mythology is in danger of becoming obscured by recent moves to reinstate the digger as an internally differentiated sign. It is therefore necessary to carefully evaluate Bean's creative role in determining and elaborating the significance of the narratives, rituals, monuments and artefacts that together constitute the fabric of digger-nationalism.