From accounts of his time in the Gallipoli trenches to descriptions of the bloody Battle of Pozieres, Charles Bean's private diaries provide some of the most comprehensive insights into the terror, tragedy and sense of sheer pointlessness of World War I.

Now, for the first time, the first-hand accounts of Australia's first war correspondent have been pieced together in a new book, The Western Front Diaries of Charles Bean.

From left: Australian War Memorial director Dr Brendan Nelson, AWM historian and editor of the book Peter Burness, Charles Bean's granddaughter Anne Carroll and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Michael McCormack. Credit:Karleen Minney

The Australian War Memorial's longest serving employee, Peter Burness AM, edited the 640-page book, which couples diary notes with 500 photographs, sketches and maps.

The diaries, which for years were kept from public view, reveal Bean's innermost thoughts when, as a 35-year-old journalist, he arrived at Gallipoli just hours after the Anzac landing on April 25, 1915.