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Rommel’s Desert Commanders—The Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941-42 Written by: Samuel W Mitcham Jr., Praeger Security International, London, 2007, ISBN: 9780811735100, 214 pp. Reviewed by: Antony Trentini While many English-language military biographies are concerned with Allied leaders from the Second World War, there is a market for exploration of the lives of great commanders on the other side of the conflict. Samuel Mitcham Jr.’s book, while focused broadly on the immensely popular …
Soldiers Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point Written by: Elizabeth D Samet, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, New York, 2007, ISBN: 9780312427825, 259pp. Reviewed by: Natalia Forrest O God of battles! steel my soldiers’ hearts; Possess them not with fear; take from them now The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers Pluck their hearts from them. - Henry V, William Shakespeare The debate about education versus training in military establishments is a familiar one. The Australian …
3 Para Written by: Patrick Bishop, HarperCollins, London, 2007, ISBN: 9780007257805, 289 pp. Reviewed by: James Cameron 3 Para is an absorbing account of the British 3rd Parachute Battalions six month deployment in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2006. This book should be essential reading for Australian Army personnel who are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, or for those who have served there and wish to compare their experiences with those of the British forces. The narrative is sourced almost …
Through Mobility We Conquer: The Mechanization of US Cavalry Written by: George F Hofmann, University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, 2006, ISBN: 9780813124032, 578 pp. Reviewed by: Jean Bou The mechanisation of ground forces was one of the most important developments in twentieth century military affairs. George F Hofmann, a former Armored Branch officer in the US Army and now a Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati, has sought to explain how the US Cavalry underwent mechanisation, a …
Swords and Ploughshares — Bringing Peace to the 21 st Century Written by: Paddy Ashdown, Weidenfield and Nicholson, London, 2007, ISBN: 9780297853039, 338 pp. Reviewed by: Colonel Marcus Fielding As a former British Royal Marine, diplomat and politician Paddy Ashdown has a broad range of experiences to call upon in his latest role, that of international statesman. It is his period as the European Unions Special Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, from 2002 to 2006, that he draws upon to write Swords …
Doves Over the Pacific: In Pursuit of Peace and Stability on Bougainville Written by: Reuben RE Bowd, Australian Army History Unit and Australian Military History Publications, Canberra, 2007, ISBN: 9780980320480, 259 pp. Reviewed by: Colonel Bob Breen With this book Reuben Bowd continues a fine tradition of serving army officers finding the time to write about contemporary Australian military history in order to educate, commemorate and inspire. A veteran of a peace support operation in Bougainville, …
The Echo of Battle: The Army’s Way of War Written by: Brian McAllister Linn, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2007, ISBN: 9780674034792, 312pp. Reviewed by: Albert Palazzo Professor Brian McAllister Linn, in The Echo of Battle: The Army’s Way of War, has done the US Army a great service. In a book of modest length he provides the institution with an outline of the origins and evolution of its intellectual tradition. This in itself would have been a major and important accomplishment …
The Minefield – An Australian Tragedy in Vietnam Written by: Greg Lockhart, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2007, ISBN: 9781741141061, 306pp Reviewed by: Brigadier David Buring, AM (Retd) Greg Lockhart’s book on the Australian Army’s mine warfare experience in Vietnam has its basis in a history of the barrier fence and minefield laid in southern Phuoc Tuy province in 1967. The consequences of laying this obstacle were extensive and serious; eventually it was largely cleared but with difficulty. The author tells …
The Artist and the Warrior: Military History through the Eyes of the Masters Written by: Theodore K. Raab, Yale University Press, 2011, ISBN: 9780300126372, 228 pp Reviewed by: Dr Claire Baddeley, Senior Curator of Art, Australian War Memorial The preoccupation with war and its representation has long been the subject matter of artists. Whether recording battles or the heroism and suffering of war’s protagonists, artists have depicted conflict in its many forms over the centuries. From early images in …
Anzacs in the Middle East: Australian soldiers, their allies and the local people in World War II Written by: Mark Johnston, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2013, ISBN: 9781107030961, 255 pp Reviewed by: Tristan Moss, PhD student, Australian National University During the first half of the Second World War, three Australian divisions and thousands of support troops played an important role in the war against Italy and Germany. Over a period of three years, Australian soldiers campaigned or were …
