A War of Words: The Man Who Talked 4000 Japanese into Surrender (Hamish McDonald, UQP)

A War of Words delves into the military history of Asia in the early 20th century through the life story of Charles Bavier. A man of astonishing military and diplomatic feats, Bavier was born to a Swiss merchant father and raised in Japan by his father’s mistress. Bavier’s exploits included assisting the revolutionaries in the Wuchang Uprising in China, which led to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. He translated Japanese documents for army intelligence in Melbourne, then left to fight alongside the Anzacs in Gallipoli. During the interwar period he became an agent for MI5 in Singapore and carried out a successful spy mission to discover Japan’s plans for World War II, which British politicians refused to believe. The only drawback in this story is that we don’t really know what happened, as the mission was classified. Bavier also worked in Australia during World War II on a propaganda campaign to convince Japanese soldiers to surrender—no easy feat given that Samurai beliefs about shame would lead many to commit ritual suicide known as seppuku. Hamish McDonald was given Bavier’s manuscript of anecdotes in 1983 when he was working as a foreign journalist in Tokyo. He has created a fascinating biography, which will appeal to those interested in the spy world and Australia’s connections to Asia during World War II.

Andrew Wrathall is the publishing and digital media coordinator at Books+Publishing

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Category: Reviews