To Villers-Bretonneux with Brigadier-General William Glasgow, DSO and the 13th Australian Infantry Brigade   Written by: Peter Edgar, Australian Military History Publications, NSW, 20061 ISBN: 9781876439460, 284pp. Reviewed by: Lieutenant Colonel Miles Farmer, OAM (Retd) Readers interested in the study of the battles on the Western Front in World War I will be familiar with the battle of Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April 1918—said by many to have been the turning point of the war. Be that as it may, it …

Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China   Written by: Paul Monk, Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2005, ISBN: 9781920769376, 309 pp, notes, index. Reviewed by: Anthony Robinson Too often strategic analysts and the business community focus on the ‘inevitable’ rise of China as an economic superpower, casting away any sensible analysis of a very complex nation with a rich and varied history. Simply by extrapolating linear trends it is possible to come up with a number of outcomes, most of which bear …

Strategic Command: General Sir John Wilton and Australia’s Asian Wars   Written by: David Horner, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2005 ISBN: 9780195552829, 400 pp. Reviewed by: Colonel John Blaxland Professor David Horner is a prolific writer and pre-eminent historian on Australian defence matters, having written a plethora of works that have significantly contributed to the store of corporate knowledge on the Army and the wider Defence organisation. Much of what he has written concerns higher-level …

On Shaggy Ridge   Written by: Phillip Bradley, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN: 9780195551006, 240 pp. Reviewed by: John Donovan It is possible to argue that this book need not have been written, for the events covered have been fully described in the official history. However, one must admit that World War II official histories do not adorn many bookcases these days, and it seems probable that the copies in libraries spend very little time in the hands of borrowers. This book, then, joins others in …

I note with interest the debate over Michael Evans’s monograph, The Tyranny of Dissonance in the AAJ ’s new ‘Forum’ section. I have also recently attended a briefing by Professor Paul Dibb on what he describes as the enduring relevance of strategic geography to Australian defence planning. In light of what are apparently opposite views, I can’t help but think that the antithetical perspectives presented are due for a synthesis that supersedes the old strategic dialectic between the two positions, namely …

Introduction This edition’s Retrospect article is drawn from the October-November 1949 editorial of the Australian Army Journal. It is, nonetheless, of enduring relevance. It poses the perennial question ‘... what sort of Army do we want and what sort of men do we want in it?’ Times have changed, most significantly to the extent that we need appropriately to include women in our inquiry. Although the times have changed, the rigours, risks and privations of soldiering have not. In his memorable reflection …

Abstract This article examines the generational differences within the Australian Army. The author argues that Generation Y has experienced the Army’s highest operational tempo and that soon they will be able employ the lessons of that experience in command positions. He uses research and observations from generational studies to provide advice to the middle- and senior-level officers currently leading and mentoring this generation. The article concludes that as Australia’s demography shifts, Generation Y …

Abstract This article takes a critical look at the intellectual culture of the Australian Army, especially the lack of a culture of writing. The author observes that it is not that Army officers do not reflect and discuss what they experience, they just tend not to write about them. He argues that leaders at every level in the Army must contribute to reversing this trend. Less than two years after the end of the First World War, the new German Army under General Hans Von Seeckt underwent a deep-set and …

Abstract The structure of the Australian Army is the legacy of a long and distinguished history. The author argues that this force structure needs to be re-shaped to better provide high-readiness deployable capability options to Government. He advocates adopting on-line/off-line readiness cycles, consolidating Reserve units, reviewing the employment of foreign exchange officers, and reducing the number of formation headquarters. We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we …

Conflict and Cooperation in Space   Columbia University Press , New York, 2014, 193 pp Hardcover ISBN: 9780231159128 Author : James Clay Moltz Reviewed By : Steven Henry   James Clay Moltz’s Crowded Orbits: Conflict and Cooperation in Space is an insightful examination of the challenges and opportunities in the space domain, making it essential reading for Defence space professionals, and those seeking to understand this critical domain better. The book leverages the ‘congested, contested and competitive’ …