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  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, …

Bardia: Myth, reality and the heirs of ANZAC   Written by: Craig Stockings, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2009, ISBN: 1921410256, 496 Pages.   Abstract On 3 January 1941, Australian soldiers led an assault against the Italian colonial fortress town of Bardia. Two days later, after fifty-five hours of heavy fighting, the position fell to the Australians in a resounding victory. At a cost of 130 killed and 326 wounded, the Australians captured around 40,000 Italian prisoners and large quantities of arms and equipment. …

Calling Out the Troops: The Australian military and civil unrest: the legal and constitutional issues   Written by: Michael Head,  Federation Press, Sydney, 2009, ISBN: 9781862877092, 254pp     Abstract This review essay examines the arguments of a new book on the use of the ADF to deal with civil unrest within Australia. Several arguments are set out which point to a growing capacity and inclination on the part of governments to use the ADF for such purposes. Various factors that constrain such use are …

POWs of World War II in the Pacific     Written by: Gavan Daws, Scribe, Melbourne, 2008. ISBN: 978086519782, 462pp   Reviewed by: John McCarthy This book was first published in the United States to highly favourable reviews in 1994. Ten years later it was published in Australia. In 2008 it was reprinted. The New York Times Book Review considered it ‘may be the rawest, harshest book about the war’. The international edition of The Japan Times Weekly found it ‘sears the reader’s memory with unforgettable …

Australia’s Involvement in Chemical Warfare 1914-1945   Written by: Geoff Plunkett,  Australian Military History Publications, Canberra, 2007, ISBN: 9781876439880, 734pp. Reviewed by: John Donovan Somewhere in these 734 pages there is an interesting book (about 300 pages long) struggling to be found. Unfortunately, it is so buried by repetition and lack of focus that only the most determined are likely to plough their way through to the end. The principal cause of the lack of focus seems to be that the …