Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War   Written by: Jean-Louis Cohen, Canadian Centre for Architecture in association with Yale University Press, New Haven, 2011, ISBN 9782754105309, 447pp   Reviewed by: Professor Peter Stanley, University of New South Wales, Canberra Design defines much of the essence of the Second World War. The distinctive appearance of Lancasters, Ju88s or Mustangs; of Panthers, Shermans and Jeeps; of the helmets of the combatant nations, German, …

One False Move, Bravest of the Brave: The Australian Mine Defusers in World War Two   Written by: Robert Macklin, Hachette, 2012, ISBN 9780733627941, 384pp   Reviewed by: Warrant Officer Class One Wayne Schoer, Australian Army As a long-serving member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) community and a student of our history, I was anticipating a good read and the possibility of filling some gaps in my knowledge of the roots of the trade. The opening chapters of One False Move deal with some …

Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life During War   Written by: Zachariah Cherion Mampilly, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 2011, ISBN 9780801449130, 320pp   Reviewed by: Lieutenant Alexander Ryrie, Australian Army This is an ambitious book which aims to shed light on the poorly researched subject of insurgent governance during time of war. The central argument of the book is that insurgent governments should be recognised by the international community lest the many civilians …

Bill the Bastard   Written by: Roland Perry, Allen & Unwin, 2012,  ISBN 9781743312629, 288pp   Reviewed by: Margaret Palazzo, Hawker College, Canberra Roland Perry’s Bill the Bastard is a story of Australian servicemen, in particular the men of the Light Horse, and their mounts during the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns of the First World War. The book focuses on its namesake, the infamous and later adored Waler, Bill ‘the Bastard’, and his trooper Major Michael Shanahan, although this book is ultimately …

Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps   Written by: Aaron B. O’Connell, Harvard University Press, 2012, ISBN 9780674058279, 400pp   Reviewed by: Tristan Moss The United States (US) Marine Corps occupies an exalted place in American society, as the vast array of popular films, books and television series attests. As the fighting arm of the ‘light on the hill’, the Marine Corps promotes US values as much as the Marine himself embodies them. Such is the power of the Corps that it is easy to assume …

The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind the Wikileaks Whistleblower   Written by: Chase Madar Verso, London & New York, 2012, ISBN 9781781680698, 188pp   Reviewed by: Steven L. Jones The Passion of Bradley Manning was always going to be a polemic book. While Manning’s release of confidential information to Wikileaks is taken as fact, opinion is divided as to the moral nature of his actions. For his detractors, he is a dangerous traitor of the highest order and deserving summary execution for …

The Changi Camera: A Unique Record of Changi and the Thai-Burma Railway   Written by: Tim Bowden, Hachette Australia, Sydney, 2012, ISBN 9780733629624, 242pp   Reviewed by: Dr Janda Gooding, Head of Photographs, Film, Sound and Multimedia, Australian War Memorial The Changi Camera is the second book by Tim Bowden that utilises the recollections of George Aspinall who became an Australian prisoner of war (POW) when Singapore was taken by the Japanese in February 1942. The first book was originally published …

Climate Change and Displacement Reader   Written by: Scott Leckie, Ezekiel Simperingham and Jordan Bakker (eds), Earthscan (Routledge), 2012, ISBN 9780415691345, 512pp   Reviewed by: Chris Baker Climate change continues to simmer as an issue for security analysts the world over. Of deep concern to many is the idea that hundreds of millions — according to some assessments — of climate change refugees may be on the move in coming decades due to climate disasters. This understandably creates a sense of angst …

Timor Timur is a memoir by Lieutenant General Kiki Syahnakri (retd) who was plucked from relative obscurity to restore a degree of order in East Timor and hand responsibility to the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) which arrived in September 1999. 1 In total Kiki spent 11 years (one third of his military career) in Timor, commencing as a platoon commander in a territorial battalion and then as commander of a small regional military command (KORAMIL Atapupu) on the West Timor border with East Timor …

The Valley’s Edge: A Year with the Pashtuns in the Heartland of the Taliban   Written by: Daniel R. Green, Potomac Books, 2012, ISBN 9781597976947, 288pp   Reviewed by: Timothy Moore Modern Western militaries arguably need political capability — not to ensure internal ideological purity, but to identify, analyse and engage the politics of an operational area and secure peace. A successful war degrades foreign government, and the burden of stabilisation and restoration often falls on occupying forces. …