Century of conflict / V. Parker Kennedy

This anthology covers some of the many conflicts during the 20th century, beginning with the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900 and the fate awaiting European missionaries. The book culminates with celebrations in Paris on New Year's Eve, 2000. Not all the stories depict military conflict - others cover the efforts and experiences of environmentalists, freedom fighters and factory workers. I outlined the trials and tribulations of women in the workforce prior to the first World War. They not only received half the pay of men doing the same work, but often had to endure sexual advances from many of their male co-workers. The subject of suffragettes is briefly mentioned, as they played an important part in improving conditions for working women. Two brothers enlist to fight in World War I, one in the British army and the other in the Australian army; both of whom meet in France to participate in the same battle.The troubles in Ireland have been ongoing for many years, but I set my story around the time just prior to the Irish Civil War during the 1922. I don't try and explain the reasons for the civil conflict, but endeavour to show how it affected people in isolated communities. The danger of survival for Germans with Jewish heritage becomes apparent during the 1930's and my story details the efforts of one family's bid to survive. Two escape and one is captured and interned in one of the more infamous concentration camps. A love story during the war-torn 1940's between two serving officers in a newly formed regiment is my longest story in the anthology. The capture of the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment after being hugely outnumbered by the enemy at the Imjin River during the Korean war is my story for the 1950's. They were to endure horrific conditions during their incarceration, the story in this anthology concentrates on the actions of one of the senior officers in his efforts to survive. Young Australian conscripts were sent to Vietnam, one of whom becomes a sniper due to his expertise with illegal killing of deer in the Tasmanian bush. As well as fighting the Viet Cong, he's confronted with a strange yellow powder covering the trees in which he spends most of his time. He's told it's called Agent Orange.A Greek island is the setting for my 70's story, although it had its origins in terrorist activity in England. The reluctant development of a relationship between a school teacher on sabbatical and a retiring soldier brings the story to its inevitable conclusion.Young people came together from all over Australia and indeed from several parts of the world to help save the last wild river in Tasmania. The 1980's story details the lives of two young volunteers from overseas who took part in the fight to save the last wild river.One of the most difficult stories to write was the disappearance of aboriginal women along many miles of unsealed roads in isolated communities. Hundreds of women have disappeared over a large area of British Columbia and nearby provinces. Some perpetrators have been brought to justice, but many remain unknown and continue with their brand of violence to plague such communities to this day. This is my story about one community along the "Highway of Tears." Not all the stories have happy endings in this anthology, as conflict often means either death or injury to one of the adversaries. They are written chronologically, but they can be read in any order.