Book Reviews
These reviews represent the personal opinion of the reviewer and do not reflect the official position of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria Inc. They are presented to allow readers to evaluate readings on defence, both past and current.
Click on the book cover to get to the Book Review.
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Aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force
RAAF
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2021
Hardback 640pp RRP $59.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, February 2022
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Not Playing the Game
Sport and Australia’s Great War
Xavier Fowler
Carlton, VIC: Melbourne University Press, 2021
Softcover 288pp RRP $39.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, January 2022
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Bastard Behind the Lines
The extraordinary story of Jock McLaren's escape from Sandakan and his guerrilla war against the Japanese
Tom Gilling
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin 2021
Paperback 256pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, December 2021
Passchendaele
A New History
Nick Lloyd
London: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2017
Paperback 464pp RRP $23.75
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, January 2022
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Edith Blake's War
The only Australian Nurse killed in action in the First World War
Krista Vane-Tempest
Kensington, NSW: New South Books, 2021
Paperback 336pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, January 2022
The Battle for Shaggy Ridge
The extraordinary story of the Australian campaign against the Japanese in New Guinea's Finisterre mountains in 1943-44
Phillip Bradley
Allen & Unwin, 2021
Paperback 328pp RRP $32.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, February 2022
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Failures of Command
The death of Private Robert Poate
Hugh Poate
Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2021
Paperback 368pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, March 2022
When He Came Home
The Impact of War on Partners and Children of Veterans
Dianne Dempsey
Sydney, NSW: Arcadia, 2021
Paperback 448pp RRP $29.95
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, January 2022
Blood Lust, Trust & Blame
In the National Interest Series
Samantha Crompvoets
Clayton, Vic: Monash University Publishing, 2021
Paperback 96pp RRP $19.95
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, October 2021
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Mosul
Australia's secret war inside the ISIS caliphate
Ben Mckelvey
Sydney, NSW: Hachette, 2020
Paperback 352pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Roger Buxton, March 2022
Courage Under Fire
An extraordinary soldier, an extraordinary day, a lifelong legacy
Daniel Keighran VC with Tony Park
Sydney, NSW: Pan Macmillan, 2020
Hardback 384pp RRP $44.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, October 2021
Pacific Adversaries
Japanese Army Air Force and the Imperial Japanese Navy vs The Allies
Volumes 1 to 4
Michael John Claringbould
Kent Town, South Australia: Avonmore Books, 2019 - 2021
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, November 2021
Island off the Coast of Asia
Instruments of Statecraft in Australian Foreign Policy
Clinton Fernandes
Clayton, Vic: Monash University Publishing, 2018
Paperback. 236pp RRP $29.95
Reviewer: Bruce Brown, November 2021
Teddy Sheean VC
A Selfless Act of Valour
Tom Lewis
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2021
Paperback 180pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Roger Buxton, August 2021
Letters to Lily Vale
The life and letters of Ernest Latchford MC MBE
in France, Persia, and Russia, 1916-1919
Mark Latchford
St Marys, SA: Openbook Howden, 2020
Paperback 328pp RRP $30.00
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, October 2021
The Art of Sacrifice
George Petrou OAM
Crows Nest, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2021
Hardcover 400pp RRP $69.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, November 2021
Military Justice Handbook
Second Edition
Anthony Paphitti
Havant, United Kingdom: Howgate Publishing Limited, 2021
Paperback 820pp RRP $193.91
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, July 2021
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea
The Forgotten Battle that Saved the Pacific
Michael Veitch
Sydney, NSW: Hachette, 2021
Paperback 352pp RRP $32.99
Reviewer: Robert Dixon, November 2021
A Narrative of Denial
Australia and the Indonesian Violation of East Timor
Peter Job
Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 2021
Paperback. 368pp. RRP $39.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, June 2021
The Bomber Mafia
A Story Set in War
Malcolm Gladwell
London: Allen Lane, 2021
Paperback 256pp RRP $35.00
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, August 2021
Mine Warfare
1st Australian Task Force’s Struggle for South Vietnam
Australian Army Combat Support Series No 3
Andrew Ross
Crows Nest NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2021
Paperback 160pp RRP $19.99
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, July 2021
Tragedy at Évian
How the world allowed Hitler to proceed with the Holocaust
Tony Matthews
Big Sky Publishing, 2020
Paperback 456pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Kevan Sanderson, July 2021
On Contested Shores
The Evolving Role of Amphibious Operations in the History of Warfare
Timothy Heck and B A Friedman (Eds)
Quantico, Virginia USA: Marine Corps University Press 2020
Paperback 430pp RRP $60.00
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, June 2021
Derrick VC in his own words
The wartime writings of Australia's most famous fighting soldier of World War II
Mark Johnston (Ed)
Moss Vale, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2021
Paperback 448pp RRP$39.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, July 2021
Politics and Intelligence in Australia
Justin T McPhee
Clayton, Vic: Monash University Publishing,
September 2020
Paperback 272pp RRP $34.95
Reviewer: Bruce Brown, July 2021
Missing:
The Need for Closure after the Great War,
Richard van Emden,
Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2019.
Hardback (292 pp, £20.00)
Reviewer - Mike O'Brien
Tarra
The story of a small ship that significantly impacted the Australian Army
Jack Peel
Crows Nest, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2020
Paperback 188pp RRP $24.99
Reviewer: Roger Buxton, June 2021
Phillip Schuler
The remarkable life of one of Australia's greatest war correspondents
Mark Baker
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2016
Paperback 352pp RRP $32.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, June 2021
Traitors and Spies
Espionage and Corruption in High Places in Australia, 1901-50
John Fahey
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2020
Paperback 448pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Bruce Brown, June 2021
Staring at God:
Britain in the Great War,
Simon Heffer,
London: Windmill Books, 2019.
(914 p, RRP $35)
Reviewed by Mike O''Brien
1000 Days on the River Kwai
The secret diary of a British Camp Commandant
Colonel Cary Owtram, OBE
Pen & Sword Military 2017
Hardback 151pp RRP $38.77
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, April 2021
The Platoon Commander
The extraordinary story of the man who led
Australia’s most decorated platoon in Vietnam
John O’Halloran with Rick Teague
Sydney, NSW: Hachette, 2021
Paperback 352pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: RUSI – Vic, June 2021
Blind Strategist
John Boyd and the American Art of War
Stephen Robinson
Melbourne: Exisle Publishing, 2021
Hardcover 360pp RRP $49.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, April 2021
You Don’t Belong Here
How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War
Elizabeth Becker
Carlton, Victoria: Black Inc., 2021
Paperback 320pp RRP $32.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, June 2021
Fremantle’s Submarines
How Allied Submariners and Western Australians Helped to Win the War in the Pacific
Michael Sturma
Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press 2015
Hardcover 248pp RRP A$62.25
Reviewer: Kevan Sanderson, April 2021
A Secret Australia
Revealed by the WikiLeaks exposés
Felicity Ruby and Peter Cronau (Eds)
Clayton, Melbourne: Monash University Publishing, 2020
Paperback 255pp RRP $29.95
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, February 2021
Law, Politics and Intelligence
A Life of Robert Hope
Peter Edwards
New South Books, 2020
Hardback 416pp RRP $49.99
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, May 2021
Dark Secrets
The True Story of Murder in HMAS Australia
Robert Hadler
Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing, 2020
Paperback 320pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Kevan Sanderson, April 2021
No Ordinary Determination
Percy Black and Harry Murray of the First AIF
2nd Edition
Jeff Hatwell
Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Press, 2014
Paperback 340pp RRP $24.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, May 2001
Godley
The man behind the myth
Terry Kinloch
Dunedin, NZ: Exisle Publishing, 2018
Hardback 328pp RRP $59.99
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, April 2021
Secret & Special
The untold story of Z Special Unit in the Second World War
Will Davies
Melbourne: Vintage (Penguin Random House), 2021
Paperback 400pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, March 2021
Military Ethics and Leadership
Peter H. J. Olsthoorn (Ed)
Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishing, 2017
Hardback 308pp RRP $286.90
Reviewer: Robert Dixon, March 2021
The Lost Boys
The untold stories of the under-age soldiers who fought in the First World War
Paul Byrnes
South Melbourne: Affirm Press, 2019
Paperback 368pp RRP $45.00
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, April 2021
On Our Doorstep
When Australia faced the threat of invasion by the Japanese
Craig Collie
Gosford, NSW: Allen & Unwin 2021
Paperback 416pp RRP $32.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, March 2021
South Pacific Air War
Volume 4
Buna and Milne Bay June - September 1942
Michael Claringbould & Peter Ingman
Kent Town, SA: Avonmore Books, 2020;
Softcover 180pp RRP $44.95
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, March 2021
The Changing of the Guard
The British Army since 9/11
Simon Akam
Brunswick, Vic: Scribe Publications, 2021
Hardcover 704pp RRP $60.00
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, April 2021
Pure Massacre
Aussie soldiers reflect on the Rwandan Genocide
Kevin O’Halloran
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing 2020
Paperback 303pp $29.99
Reviewer: Roger Buxton, December 2020
Wars without End
New Zealand's Land Wars - A Māori Perspective
Danny Keenan
New Zealand: Penguin NZ, 2021
Paperback 304pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Robert Ellis, April 2021
Atomic Salvation
How the A-Bomb attacks saved the lives of 32 million people
Tom Lewis
Big Sky Publishing, 2020
Paperback 364pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Robert Ellis, February 2021
Bay of Pigs
CIA’s Cuban Disaster, April 1961
[Cold War 1945 - 1991 Series]
Phil Carradice
Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military 2018
Paperback 136pp RRP $39.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, December 2020
Dunera Lives. Volume 2
Profiles
Ken Inglis et al
Clayton, Vic: Monash University Publishing, 2020
Paperback 512pp RRP $39.95
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, February 2021
The Ottoman Army and the First World War
Mesut Uyar
Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge 2021
Hardback 466 + xviii pp., illus., maps
RRP $236.72
Reviewer: Michael Tyquin, January 2021
Britain at Bay
The epic story of the Second World War: 1938-1941
Alan Allport
Gosford, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2020
Hardback 608pp RRP $49.99
Reviewer: Robert Ellis, February 2012
The Korean Kid
A young Australian pilot’s baptism of fire
in the jet fighter age
Rochelle Nicholls
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2020
Paperback 340pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, February 2021
You Shouldn't Have Joined ...
A memoir
Sir Peter Cosgrove
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2020
Hardcover 440pp $49.99
Reviewer: RUSI-VIC, November 2020
The Death of Glory
The Western Front, 1915
Robin Neillands
London: John Murray, 2006
Paperback 298pp RRP: $39.95
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, February 2021
Radio Girl
The story of the extraordinary Mrs Mac,
pioneering engineer and wartime legend
David Dufty
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2020.
Paperback 312pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Joy Cullen, November 2020
Letters from the veldt
The imperial advance to Pretoria through the eyes of
Edward Hutton and his brigade of colonials
Craig Stockings
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing 2020
Paperback 286pp RRP $29.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, December 2020
Red Lead
The legendary Australian ship's cat who survived the sinking of HMAS Perth and the Thai-Burma Railway
Roland Perry
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2020
Paperback 344pp RRP 29.99
Reviewer: Kevan Sanderson, November 2020
William Holmes
The Soldiers' General
Geoffrey Travers
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2020
Hardback 424pp RRP $34.99
Reviewer: Mike O’Brien, November 2020
Counter Attack: Villers-Bretonneux
April 1918
[Australian Army History Series]
Peter Edgar
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing 16 Mar 2020
Paperback 160pp RRP $19.99
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, November 2020