Hitler's Tractor

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Description

If we must look for demons in our lives, we may also try to destroy them before we die. In James Twinings life the demon of his declining memory, like Don Quixotes windmill, is a tractor. Forged in Germany, the machine came to be known as Hitlers tractor it ploughed, sowed and reaped. But did Hitlers tractor have a sinister purpose
This is a story that takes the reader through chapters in the lifetime of one man childhood, adolescence, a professional life and finally old age when he struggles to remember.
It tells of hardship farming in 1930s Australia, the confusion of a boys conflict with a teacher traumatised by war, his artistic mothers battle against the unforgiving land, a father who dreams of something better, and a marriage under strain.
But glowering over an apparently simple tale is the evil one the German tractor that seems to have an unimaginably dangerous machine-like power over those who would dare to stoke its fire and tame its strength.
Character rich and sweeping from the Depression years to the Australia of today, Hitlers Tractor speaks to the strength of human spirit when faced by adversity drought, flood, cruel fate and the futility of revenge.It is a poignant, beguiling and exquisitely told Australian story.

Author Bio

Jan Smith was born at Dalby, Queensland in 1935, and was educated at Toowoomba, Southport and Canberra. He began a journalism career with a cadetship on the Toowoomba Chronicle. He has been a journalist on daily newspapers in Mackay, Toowoomba, Sydney; ABC radio and TV Mackay, Toowoomba, Canberra; Federal government media liaison Canberra, local government Mackay City Council. In a self- assessment, Jan Smith would like to be thought of as a private, humble and sensitive person who grieves over the loss of dogs, deeply regrets hurt he may have caused others and sometimes despairs of Australias apparent inability to understand aboriginal culture, land degradation, climate change, refugees and the importance of the Arts.