Power and Military Effectiveness: The Fallacy of Democratic Triumphalism   Written by: Michael C Desch, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD, 2008,  ISBN: 9780801888014232 pp. Reviewed by: Ross Mallett Democratic triumphalism—a term coined by Michael Desch in this book—is defined as a belief that ‘not only does the spread of democracy make the world more benign by reducing the likelihood of wars among liberal states, but democracies enjoy certain advantages in their relations with nondemocratic …

The Accidental Guerrilla   Written by: David Kilcullen,  Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009,  ISBN: 9780199754090, 346 pp. Reviewed by: Peter Mansoor The War on Terrorism since 11 September 2001 has defied precise analysis, in large measure because it is not clear who or what we are fighting and because our vocabulary concerning war is limited in its scope to largely state-based conflict. In The Accidental Guerrilla , David Kilcullen succeeds in explaining the diverse phenomenon that constitute the wars …

Bad Strategies: How Major Powers Fail in Counterinsurgency   Written by: James S Corum,  Zenith Press, Minneapolis, 2008,  ISBN: 9780760330807, 304pp. Reviewed by: Campbell Micallef Due to the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of books written on the subject of COIN is matched only by the myriad of ‘experts’, whose emergence suggests that there exists a desire to isolate a strategic algorithm, or a ‘silver bullet’ methodology for success. This is understandable, considering recent …

Forgotten ANZACS: The Campaign in Greece, 1941   Written by: Peter Ewer, Scribe Publications, Carlton North, 2008, ISBN: 9781925321296, 419pp. Reviewed by: Glyn Harper This book deals with the dispatch of W Force to Greece in the early months of 1941 and its ultimate fate. Consisting primarily of the Australian 6th Division fresh from its triumphs in North Africa and the 2nd New Zealand Division, W Force was a token military commitment made by the British Government even though they knew it had little …

The Proud 6th: An illustrated history of the 6th Australian Division, 1939-45   Written by: Mark Johnston,  Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, 2008,  ISBN: 9780521514118, 269pp. Reviewed by: Phil Bradley There is a wonderful tradition in Australia to write battalion histories and, as a result, very few divisional or brigade level histories have been written. This can make it very difficult to follow the history of Australian divisions in the two World Wars, particularly in the Second World War, …

Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War   Written by: Hugo Slim,  Columbia University Press, New York, 2008,  ISBN: 9780199326549, 319pp.   Reviewed by: Dr Narelle Biedermann Hugo Slim is a writer and scholar with a significant background in humanitarian operations. He could have easily chosen to take a preaching, moralistic stance in putting this book together. Instead, Killing Civilians  is a remarkable piece of literature that approaches a unique, yet vitally important element of warfare …

The Good Soldiers   Written by: David Finkel,  Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2009, ISBN: 9780374165734, 287pp. Reviewed by: Major Andrew Shum David Finkel’s The Good Soldiers  is raw, confronting and more than a timely reminder of the lessons learnt, hardships faced and indelible physical and emotional scars that are left on those engaged in close counterinsurgency fighting in the modern era. As the current focus of the Coalition and its political masters remains firmly entrenched in the ongoing …

The Human Face of War   Written by: Jim Storr,  Continuum International Publishing, London, 2009, ISBN: 9781441187505, 256pp.   Reviewed by: Justin Kelly Many readers will be aware of Jim Storr through his contributions to various British journals over the last twenty years. A retired Infantry officer, he is a forensic thinker with a strong empiricist bent—one who works from the observed facts towards a theory rather than the other way round. In the latter stages of his military career he was deeply …

Light Horse: A History of Australia’s Mounted Arm   Written by: Jean Bou,  Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2009, ISBN: 9780521197083, 360pp. Reviewed by: John Donovan Jean Bou has written a useful institutional history, which focuses on the roles, development and eventual decline of the Australian mounted arm from colonial times until the last horsed regiment was disbanded. Descriptions of battles are used to illustrate points in the discussion, not as the principal focus of the narrative. Dr Bou …

Captain Bullen’s War: The Vietnam War Diary of Captain John Bullen    Written by: Paul Ham (ed),  Harper Collins, Pymble, 2009. ISBN: 9780732288433, 474pp. Reviewed by: Bob Hall Captain John Bullen was posted to Vietnam as the OC of the 1st Topographical Survey Troop, part of the 1st Australian Task Force at Nui Dat. To brief his successor on developments, and to inform his family of his activities there, he kept a diary. The diaries were edited by Paul Ham into a lively account of Bullen’s Vietnam tour. …