Chris Masters is joint winner of the 2023 Walkley Honour for Media Freedom for his investigation of the Ben Roberts-Smith story and winner of the 2024 Australian Political Book of the Year Award
Winner of the Australian Political Book of the Year Award 2024
Shortlisted for the Anzac Memorial Trustees' Military History Prize in the NSW Premier's History Awards 2024
Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024
With a Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry, Ben Roberts-Smith was the most highly decorated Australian soldier, the best of the best. When he returned to civilian life, he became a poster boy for a nation hungry for warrior heroes. He embodied the myth of the classic Anzac, seven-foot-tall and bulletproof. But as his public reputation continued to grow, inside the army rumours were circulating.
Gold Walkley Award winning journalist Chris Masters was the first to investigate the rumours of summary executions, bloodings and bullying, and began to examine more closely the man we wanted to hero-worship. When the stories hit the headlines, and with a billionaire media baron's backing, Ben Roberts-Smith sued. So commenced the defamation trial of the century, a courtroom contest of tightrope tactics and fierce wit.
Chris Masters tells the extraordinary story of Ben Roberts-Smith, the man at the centre of this de facto war crimes trial, from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan to the front lines of the Federal Court.
'If there was a Victoria Cross for bravery in journalism, Chris Masters deserves to receive it.' - Phillip Adams
'Compelling ... a book worth reading on many levels...For those who believe unquestioningly in the ANZAC spirit, this book offers an important corrective - hero worship must not be blind.' - Sydney Morning Herald
'Powerful, passionate and often moving narrative' - Inside Story
'An account of reporters taking on the legal system, the political establishment and much of the Australian media and - against those almost impossible odds - somehow emerging with the story' - The Saturday Paper
'War has always been the stuff of myth-making from the Anzacs to the present day. [Flawed Hero] shakes the blind beliefs of those who unquestionably only see what they want to see - a war hero.' - The Conversation
'There's seriously no one else in Australia with the knowledge that Chris Masters has in relation to Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.' - Former Commando Major
Chris Masters is joint winner of the 2023 Walkley Honour for Media Freedom for his investigation of the Ben Roberts-Smith story and winner of the 2024 Australian Political Book of the Year Award
Winner of the Australian Political Book of the Year Award 2024
Shortlisted for the Anzac Memorial Trustees' Military History Prize in the NSW Premier's History Awards 2024
Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024
With a Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry, Ben Roberts-Smith was the most highly decorated Australian soldier, the best of the best. When he returned to civilian life, he became a poster boy for a nation hungry for warrior heroes. He embodied the myth of the classic Anzac, seven-foot-tall and bulletproof. But as his public reputation continued to grow, inside the army rumours were circulating.
Gold Walkley Award winning journalist Chris Masters was the first to investigate the rumours of summary executions, bloodings and bullying, and began to examine more closely the man we wanted to hero-worship. When the stories hit the headlines, and with a billionaire media baron's backing, Ben Roberts-Smith sued. So commenced the defamation trial of the century, a courtroom contest of tightrope tactics and fierce wit.
Chris Masters tells the extraordinary story of Ben Roberts-Smith, the man at the centre of this de facto war crimes trial, from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan to the front lines of the Federal Court.
'If there was a Victoria Cross for bravery in journalism, Chris Masters deserves to receive it.' - Phillip Adams
'Compelling ... a book worth reading on many levels...For those who believe unquestioningly in the ANZAC spirit, this book offers an important corrective - hero worship must not be blind.' - Sydney Morning Herald
'Powerful, passionate and often moving narrative' - Inside Story
'An account of reporters taking on the legal system, the political establishment and much of the Australian media and - against those almost impossible odds - somehow emerging with the story' - The Saturday Paper
'War has always been the stuff of myth-making from the Anzacs to the present day. [Flawed Hero] shakes the blind beliefs of those who unquestionably only see what they want to see - a war hero.' - The Conversation
'There's seriously no one else in Australia with the knowledge that Chris Masters has in relation to Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.' - Former Commando Major
Map
Pseudonyms
Abbreviations and acronyms
1 2 June 2006
2 2 June 2015
3 Lifting the Tin
4 Achilles
5 The Anzac Avatar
6 A Spectator to a Troubled Soul
7 The Rose Garden
8 The Cliff
9 Shooting Bambi
10 Scoop
11 Un-Australian
12 Whiskey 108
13 Battlelines
14 The Scout
15 Chinartu
16 The Sergeant
17 Blue-on-Blue
18 Perth
19 'H'
20 The Tangled Web
21 The Great Hall and the Black Eye
22 Stay Kind
23 The Terp
24 The SSE
25 Leonidas
26 'You Weak Dog'
27 Emissaries
28 Seven vs Nine
29 Secrets, Lies and Newsprint
30 History Wars
31 Fasil
32 Showdown at the East
33 Killer Angels
34 A Game of Arithmetic
35 Protected Identity
36 The Whistleblower
37 Global Warriors
38 The Phoney War
39 60 Minutes
40 Exodus
41 Annus Horribilis
42 The Killing Field
43 The Lunch Box
44 Entitled Pricks
45 D&Ms
46 Reverse Ferret
47 The PAPs
48 'Possibly the Most Disgraceful Episode...'
49 Brereton Backlash
50 Lawyers, Love and Loss
51 Secrets of War
52 Feeling the Heat
53 'Credulous'
54 A Target on My Back
55 Softly, Softly
56 The Devil in the Detail
57 'There Were No Men in the Tunnel'
58 'The Respondents Should Be Ashamed'
59 Good Luck with That!
60 Protection Racket
61 'I Know What I Saw'
62 The Greater Sin
63 'The Most Beautiful Thing'
64 Valentine's Day
65 Tunnel Vision
66 'A Bullet in the Back of the Head'
67 Coolness Under Fire
68 Dodging a Bullet
69 The PI and the VC
70 A Legitimate Target?
71 Brothers-in-Arms
72 The Country Wives' Club
73 The Anti-Bullies
74 An Exhibition Execution
75 Not Walking Away
76 'Simultaneously in Love and Afraid'
77 'Terrible for Our Country'
78 'Your Honour, I'm Unwilling'
79 Roadkill
80 Where Nobody Wants to Be
81 Deal or No Deal
82 A Witch-hunt
83 Rats and Snitches
84 Ricochet
85 A Patrol Divided
86 Something That Would Attract Scandal
87 Friends
88 'That's Not True, Sir'
89 An Orchard Too Far?
90 Tough Enough
91 Hot Wash
92 Holding Firm
93 Leadership in the Stand
94 A Stark Choice
95 Unwritten Rules
96 Zero Damages
97 A Nonsense Case
98 Looking Truth in the Eye
99 Improbabilities
100 Missing Treasure
101 Truth Wins
102 Lest We Forget
Notes
Chris Masters PSM is a powerful force in Australian journalism. A multi Walkley Award winner, his reports 'The Big League' and 'The Moonlight State' both led to royal commissions that helped transform the nation. He spent extended periods with Australian forces in Afghanistan, and he is the author of the bestselling Jonestown, Uncommon Soldier and No Front Line.
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