The Ballad of Les Darcy

Peter Fitzsimmons was fortunate enough to have this book commissioned by the Books Alive people, to be given out free, which is how I got it. It’s the story of a boxing legend during WW1 who refused to join up and was vilified for it. He became champion in Australia at only twenty, and died at 21 of an infection brought on from a boxing injury. While the historical aspect was interesting, in the large segment of society that was not so keen on joining up and becoming bullet fodder, the idea that Darcy was an utter hero and legend just because he was a boxer doesn’t really cut it with me. The author, clearly aware of his audience, uses an overly-conversational style, including phrases like “see,” to start every other paragraph, almost as though he’s aware we’re not really going to get why Darcy was so great. I wouldn’t have read this if it hadn’t been a free book, but as a snapshot of Australian history, it was quite interesting.