Jimmy Thomson’s world of books and TV
Biographies, military histories, true crime, crime fiction, children’s books and TV dramas.
The First Anzacs
How the Australian Combat Engineers (sappers) were written out of history and cheated out of their just rewards (Out in March 26).
A Sappers War
How the rest of the sappers fared in Vietnam, following their motto of “we make and we break.
Tunnel Rats
How Australian sappers (Army engineers) were the first to discover and explore the underground city at Cu Chi in the Vietnam war.
Tunnel Rats Vs The Taliban:
Australian Sappers in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban, dealing with IEDs and Russian mines and destroying opium factories.
Twisted River
A couple return from holiday to discover their lives have been ‘stolen’. (by James Dunbar)
Mole Creek
A murder during the Vietnam War leads to a string of killings in present day Tasmania (by James Dunbar).
Perfect Criminals
Someone is murdering movie scriptwriters and Danny Clay, and his Vietnamese sidekick Xan, need to find out why before they are targetted.
Tunnel Vision
Danny and Xan flee to Saigon where they trip over a people smuggling sex ring delivering young girls to Sydney.
No Need for Heroes
The original Tunnel Rat tells of life in Vietnam, the horrific murders of his daughters, and his life of healing.
Wendell Sailor
The controversial rugby codes dual international tells all
Shane Watson
The Australian all-rounder’s rise and rise and his battles with injuries.
The Last Snake Man
The amazing life story of renowned snake-catcher and showman John Cann.
The Power of the Word
DECEMBER 2025: As author of 15 published books, Jimmy Thomson is a journalist, crime novelist, military historian and biographer. He has also written for TV, and is a frequent guest on radio and TV
On top of that, he is a travel writer and occasional tour guide and edits the travel website mildrover.com, and the apartment living website Flat Chat (flatchat.com.au).
Jimmy has worked as a TV scriptwriter in Australia and Los Angeles, having created or co-created three successful TV drama series. As a comedy writer, he has been nominated three times for the Australian Writers Guild sitcom awards.
He holds an MA in Writing from Swinburne University and teaches Australian Literature: Page to screen at Boston University (USA)’s Study Abroad program in Sydney.
Twisted River, his second novel under the name James Dunbar was published this year by Echo Publishing and he is currently working on a third James Dunbar novel, Blood Moon, a sequel to Mole Creek, his first Dunbar novel, also commissioned by Echo.
Meanwhile he is finalising a military history (co-written as Jimmy Thomson) for publication in March 2026 by Allen & Unwin.
Jimmy is married with an adult son, was born in Scotland and has worked in newspapers there, in London, Kenya, New Zealand and Australia.
