The Road to Singapore: The Myth of British Betrayal , Written by: Augustine Meaher IV, Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2010, ISBN 9781921509957, 243 pp, RRP AU$39.95   Reviewed by: John Connor Sometimes it takes an outsider to provide a clear-eyed interpretation of a controversial event in a nation’s history. In this book, Augustine Meaher IV—who, as his name suggests, is a larger-than-life military historian from Mobile, Alabama in America’s Deep South—provides a compelling analysis of why …

  The Media at War , Written by: Susan L Carruthers, Second Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, ISBN 9780230244573, 329 pp   Reviewed by: Cynthia Banham Susan Carruthers wrote the first edition of The Media at War in 2000—before 11 September 2001, the war on terrorism, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and before the advent of ‘new media’. Yet if one thing is clear from reading the updated version of her book, published eleven years later, it is that when it comes to the reporting of war, little if anything …

  When God Made Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq 1914–1921 ,  Written by: Charles Townshend,  Faber and Faber Ltd, London, 2010, ISBN: 9780571237197, 320 pp   Reviewed by: David Goyne, Strategic Policy Division, Department of Defence The British campaign in Mesopotamia in the First World War, climaxing with the siege and surrender of the British Imperial force at Kut, is generally held to be the nadir of generalship and the military art. The British commander at Kut, Major …

  Afgantsy: the Russians in Afghanistan 1979–89 , Written by: Rodric Braithwaite,  Profile Books, London, 2011,  ISBN 9781846680540, 448 pp   Reviewed by: Brigadier Richard Iron, British Army On 15 February 1989, General Gromov, the commander of the 40th Army, in his BTR command vehicle and carrying his Army’s banner, was the last man in the 40th Army to cross the Termez bridge back into the Soviet Union; thus ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan that had lasted a little over nine years. Afgantsy is …

  The Strategy Bridge: Theory for Practice ,  Written by: Colin S Gray,  Oxford University Press, 2010,  ISBN 9780199579662, 308 pp Reviewed by: Antulio J Echevarria II, US Army War College The purpose of this book, as its author states, is to propose a general theory of strategy. Scholars and military professionals may well ask why another book on strategic theory is necessary or even desirable, given the already vast number and range of works on strategy, both as theory and as practice. The bookshelves …

  Australia and the ‘New World Order’: From peacekeeping to peace-enforcement, 1988–1991 ,  Written by: David Horner,  Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 9780521765879, 696 pp   Reviewed by: Kim Beazley David Horner has a clear-eyed view of the task of an official historian. In his preface to this volume, Australia and the New World Order: From peace-keeping to peace-enforcement: 1988–1991 , he argues, ‘an official history is a record of a government’s activities’. It is not military history, …

  The Last Knight: A biography of General Sir Phillip Bennett AC, KBE, DSO ,  Written by: Robert Lowry,  Big Sky Publishing, Sydney, 2011,  ISBN 9780980814040, 416 pp Reviewed by: Nick Jans Every decade since Federation has thrown up a distinctive challenge for the Australian military institution. The main challenges in the first half of the twentieth century concerned the mobilisation of the services for conventional warfare operations overseas, and in the last decade or so the ADF again finds itself …

  Wau 1942-1943 ,  Written by: Phillip Bradley,  Australian Army Campaign Series No 6, Army History Unit, Canberra, 2010,  216 pp   Australia’s Palestine Campaign ,  Written by: Jean Bou,  Australian Army Campaign Series No 7, Army History Unit, Canberra, 2010,  180 pp   The Battle of Fromelles 1916 ,  Written by: Roger Lee,  Australian Army Campaign Series No 8, Army History Unit, Canberra, 2010, ' 256 pp Reviewed by: Ian van der Waag The Australian Army History Unit (AAHU) has set the yardstick by which …

  The Architect of Victory: The military career of Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Horton Berryman ,  Written by: Peter J Dean,  Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, 2011, ISBN 9780521766852, 406 pp   Armies of Empire: the 9th Australian and 50th British Divisions in Battle, 1939–1945 ,  Written by: Allan Converse,  Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, 2011,  ISBN 9780521194808, 368 pp Reviewed by: Captain Dayton McCarthy The shadow and influence of our pre-eminent military historian, C E W …

  From Storm to Freedom - America’s Long War with Iraq,  Written by: John R Ballard,  US Naval Institute, Annapolis, 2011,  ISBN 9781591140184, 352 pp,   Surging South of Baghdad - The Third Infantry Division and Task Force Marne in Iraq 2007–2008,  Written by: Dale Andrade,  US Army Center of Military History, Washington DC, 2010,  ISBN 9781780390253, 429 pp,   In the Gray Area - A Marine Advisor Team at War,  Writen by: Seth WB Folsom, US Naval Institute, Annapolis, 2010, ISBN 9781591142814, 256 pp, …