Against the Sun is a challenging account of the AIF's 8th Division and the campaign against the Japanese in Malaya during 1941-42. It deals directly with the experience of the Australian troops on the mainland, and provides a context for the actions they were engaged in. Drawing on archival material not previously examined, and on letters and diaries still in private hands, this book explores the strategies of Malaya Command and the role of Autralian troops. In such an analysis the gap between what the men themselves now remember and what is officially written about is critical: the men's stories shape the final narrative as decisively as the official sources commonly do.