The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality   Written by: Wolfam Wette,  Translated by: Deborah Schneider, Preface by: Peter Fritzsche, Forward byManfred Messerschmitt,  Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2006,  ISBN: 9780674025776, 391 pp. Reviewed by: Russell A Hart Originally published in German in 2002, the appearance of an English translation of this important book is overdue. Wolfram Wette exposes the deeply racist and anti-Semitic character of the modern German military that conditioned it to embrace …

Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology   Written by: Roger Pauly, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2008,  ISBN: 9780801888366, 180 pp. Reviewed by: Antony Trentini Firearms are obviously central to the Army—and are critical to the business of the Infantry and Special Forces. Roger Pauly’s book is an excellent introduction for those interested in better understanding the firearms used by the warriors of yesterday and today. This book examines the history of firearms, and their development …

Anzac Day Then & Now     Edited by: Tom Frame UNSW Press: Sydney; 2016, ISBN 9781742234816, 312 pp,   Reviewed by: Marcus Fielding Published on the centenary of the first Anzac Day in 1916, Anzac Day Then & Now is a collection of perspectives on Anzac Day from contributors who were asked to examine the events that set apart 25 April from other days in the calendar, and to explore why Anzac Day appears to mean many different things to different people. It is the first book to take a long-term, broad view of …

What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat   Written by: Louise Richardson, New York, Random House, 2006,  ISBN: 9780812975444, 312pp. Reviewed by: Dr Albert Palazzo, Senior Research Fellow, Land Warfare Studies Centre Dr Louise Richardson is Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a lecturer in government and law at Harvard. Born in Ireland of Catholic parents, Richardson grew up in a culture in which terrorism was part of the Republic’s background …

Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq   Written by: Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor, London, Atlantic Books, 2006,  ISBN: 9781843543527, 603pp. Reviewed by: Colonel R. J. H. Noble, Directing Staff, Australian Command and Staff College All professional soldiers should read this book. Cobra II is an excellent, well-researched and professionally written account of the planning and conduct of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It concludes during the early stages of the post-invasion …

War Made New: Technology, Warfare and the Course of History 1500 to Today   Written by: Max Boot, Gotham Books, New York, 2006, ISBN: 978-1592402229, 624 pp. Reviewed by: Antony Trentini, Visiting Fellow, Defence and Security Applications Research Centre. While it would seem, on the strength of the book’s title, that Max Boot would present an unbalanced and radical technological determinist argument with War Made New: Technology, Warfare and the Course of History 1500 to Today , he does not. Instead, …

An Introduction to the Causes of War: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq   Written by: Greg Cashman and Leonard C. Robinson, Lanham, Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007,  ISBN: 978-1538127780, 423pp. Reviewed by: Dr Gregory P. Gilbert, Senior Research Officer, Sea Power Centre – Australia The majority of people who contribute to Australia’s defence are more involved with their day to day activities than with the international relations theory and practice that underpins their …

Contemporary Perspectives on Private Military Contractors Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War   Written by: Dina Rasor and Robert Bauman, Palgrave Macmillan, New   York, 2007, ISBN: 9781403981929, 274pp.   Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army   Written by: Jeremy Scahill,  Serpent’s Tail, London, 2007, ISBN: 9781568583945, 438pp.   Reviewed by: Antony Trentini The role of private contractors in war is no longer considered solely in terms of the …

Vietnam: The Australian War   Written by: Paul Ham,  HarperCollins, Sydney, 2007, ISBN: 9780732282370, 813 pp. Reviewed by: Brigadier John Essex-Clark (Retd) The Australian reading public have been presented over the past few years with books about Australia’s military history. Paul Ham, who previously authored Kokoda , has now contributed again with another blockbuster and tour de force in Vietnam . Like his previous book, this is a weighty tome, figuratively and literally, with 813 punchy pages including …

The Torch and the Sword: A History of the Army Cadet Movement in Australia   Written by: Craig Stockings,  UNSW Press, Sydney, 2007, ISBN: 9780868408385, 328pp. Reviewed by: Lieutenant General John Coates (Retd) For those among the reading audience who were never school cadets, this book is unlikely to be a riveting read. It is a subject that has not been handled comprehensively before, and as part of the frequently febrile defence debate, it deserves its place in Australia’s military and social history. …