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.
Because Our Fathers Lied
From Boer to World War: Australia’s Baptism by Fire
Paula Astridge
Warriewood NSW : Woodslane Press, 2022
Paperback 220pp RRP: $24.95
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, February 2024
All the Broken Soldiers
Private Kennedy’s War
Jan McLeod and Andrew McCleod
Newport, NSW : Big Sky Publishing, 2022
Paperback 264pp RRP: $32.99
Reviewer: Robert Dixon, March 2024
Chasing Bandits in the Badlands
Australian Soldiers adjusting attitudes in Somalia 1993
Bob Breen
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2023
Paperback 264pp RRP: $29.99
Reviewer: Mike Arnett, May 2024
Bloody Buna
The Battle for the Beachhead New Guinea 1942-43
David W. Cameron
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2023
Paperback 440pp RRP: $32.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, May 2024
DREADFUL LADY OVER THE MEKONG DELTA
RAAF Canberras in the Vietnam War
[Australian Air Campaign Series – 7]
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2023
Paperback 223pp RRP:$19.99
Reviewer: Adrian Catt, May 2024
Desert Diggers
Writings From a War Zone
‘Somewhere in the Middle East’ 1940-1942
David Mitchelhill-Green
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2023
Paperback 448pp RRP: $32.99
Reviewer: Robert Dixon, May 2024
Head Hunters in the Malayan Emergency
The Atrocity and Cover-up
Dan Poole
Barnsely, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword, 2023
Hardcover 176pp RRP: $48.25
Reviewer: Neville Taylor, March 2024
Great-Uncle Harry:
A Tale of War and Empire
Michael Palin
North Sydney, NSW: Penguin Random House, 2023
Paperback 326pp RRP: $24.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, April 2024
Sword and Baton
Senior Australian Army Officers from Federation to 2001
Volume Two: 1939 to 1962
Justin Chadwick
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2023
Hardcover 752pp RRP: $36.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, May 2024
HOW to WIN an INFORMATION WAR
The Propagandist who Outwitted Hitler
Peter Pomerantsev
London : Faber & Faber Limited, 2024
Hardback 304pp RRP: $49.99
Reviewer: David Rees, May 2024
The Battle Within
POWs in post-war Australia
Christina Twomey
Randwick, NSW: New South Books, 2018
Paperback 320pp RRP:$39.99
Reviewer: Adrian Catt, February 2024
The Battle of the Beams
The Secret Science of Radar that turned the tide of the Second World War
Tom Whipple
North Sydney, NSW: Penguin Random House, 2023 Paperback 320pp RRP: $35.00
Reviewer: Robert Dixon, March 2024
The Home Front
The Never-Ending War within our Veterans
Patrick Lindsay
South Melbourne, VIC: Affirm Press, 2023
Paperback 288 RRP: $34.99
Reviewer: Andrew Keena, April 2024
The Eagle in the Mirror
In search of Australian War Hero, Master Spy and Alleged Traitor,
Charles Howard ‘Dick’ Ellis
Jesse Fink
Melbourne, VIC: Viking, 2023
Paperback 352pp RRP: $34.99
Reviewer: Adrian Catt, March 2024
WALLABY AIRLINES
Twelve months flying the Caribou in Vietnam
[The Australian Air Campaign Series - 5]
Jeff Pedrina
Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2023
Paperback 224pp RRP: $19.99
Reviewer: Rob Ellis, February 2024