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Failed States: The abuse of power and the assault on democracy Written by: Noam Chomsky, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2006, ISBN: 9780805082845, 328pp. Reviewed by: Hugh Smith, Visiting Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy The main title of Chomsky’s latest book is somewhat misleading. It is not an examination of the misery experienced by the many Third World states riven by civil strife, criminality, corruption and …
Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco Written by: David L. Phillips, Basic Books, New York, 2005, ISBN: 9780813343044, ix + 292pp. Reviewed by: Major Lynda Liddy, Research Fellow, Land Warfare Studies Centre. In the aftermath of civil wars, international actors often worry about sectarianism, tribalism and ethnic division in war torn states. In Iraq, however, it is evident that forced regime change is also fraught with similar challenges. Religious and ethnic divisions, political …
Running the War in Iraq: An Australian general, 300,000 troops, the bloodiest conflict of our time Written by: Jim Molan, HarperCollins Publishers, Sydney, 2008, ISBN: 9780732287818, 358 pp. Reviewed by: Albert Palazzo Major General Jim Molan has written a compelling, riveting, and fast paced memoir of his year in Iraq as a senior officer with the Headquarters Multi-National Force – Iraq. Molan’s primary position was Chief of Operations to the US Commander, General George G Casey, although he also played …
Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare Written by: Daniel Marston and Carter Malkasian (eds), Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2008, ISBN: 9781849081641, 304 pp. Reviewed by: Lieutenant Colonel Mark O’Neill Daniel Marston and Carter Malkasian have much more in common than editorship of this topical anthology. They completed their doctoral studies at Oxford under the supervision of Professor Robert O’Neill (known to many readers of this journal, not only as a former Australian Army officer but also as a …
Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War Written by: Peter Barham, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2004, ISBN: 9780300125115, 451 pp. Reviewed by: John McCarthy Peter Barham is a psychologist and a historian of mental health. Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War is a very successful attempt to rediscover the largely forgotten men who were certified as lunatics as a result of their 1914–18 war experiences. Wilfred Owen, killed in action on 4 November 1918 and awarded a posthumous Military Cross, noted such …
Robert E Lee: Icon for a Nation Written by: Brian Holden Reid, pbk, Prometheus Books, 2007, ISBN: 9781591025856, 271 pp. Reviewed by: Scott Hopkins Any study of General Robert E Lee confronts the interplay of myth and historiography. Lee, a Southern hero of the US Civil War, was almost deified in the ‘Lost Cause’ revisionist process in the second half of the nineteenth century. Interest in the Civil War has not faded, demonstrated by the crowded summer tourist trail around Virginia and Pennsylvania. Nor …
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 …
