Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.396.non-fictionThe Victors is a breathtaking new work from bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose. It follows the momentous events of the war from D-Day, 6 June 1944, through to the final days when the Allied soldiers pushed the German troops out of France, chased them across Germany, and, on 7 May 1945, destroyed the Nazi regime. -- back cover. world war 1939=1945 - campaigns - europe, world war 1939-1945 - us involvement

Index, notes,ill, maps, p.655.non-fictionOn the basis of 1,400 oral histories from the men who were there, Eisenhower biographer and World War II historian Stephen E. Ambrose reveals for the first time anywhere that the intricate plan for the invasion of France in June 1944, had to be abandoned before the first shot was fired.operation overlord, world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - france

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.580.non-fictionPeter FitzSimons, Australia's most beloved popular historian, focuses on one of the seminal moments in Australian history: the Battle of tobruk in 1941, in which more than 15 000 Australian troops - backed by British artillery - fought in excruciating desert heat through eight long months, against Adolf Hitler's formidable Afrika Korps. During the dark heart of World War II, when Hitler turned his attention to conquering North Africa, a distracted and far-fl ung Allied force could not give its all to the defence of Libya. So the job was left to the roughest, toughest bunch that could be mustered: the Australian Imperial Force. the AIF's defence of the harbour city of tobruk against the Afrika Korps' armoured division is not only the stuff of Australian legend, it is one of the great battles of all time, as against the might of General Rommel and his Panzers, the Australians relied on one factor in particular to give them the necessary strength against the enemy: mateship. Drawing on extensive source material - including diaries and letters, many never published before - this extraordinary book, written in Peter FitzSimons' highly readable style, is the definitive account of this remarkable chapter in Australia's historyworld war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – north africa, siege of tobruk

Index, bibliography, ill, p.478.non-fictionIn Crisis in the Pacific acclaimed historian Gerald Astor draws on the raw experiences of marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen under fire - from generals and admirals to correspondents, line officers and enlisted men on both sides of the battle lines - to present a view of the critical struggle for the Philippines, the keystone to Japanese domination of the Pacific and to ultimate Allied victory. These accounts, many published here for the first time, are dramatic and graphic, brutal and awe-inspiring. Ranging from the diplomatic and nursing corps' experience of the Japanese conquest and occupation of the islands, to the Bataan death march and first-hand accounts of war crimes inflicted by the Japanese on prisoners of war, to the final push for the hills of Mindanao, Crisis in the Pacific is the first complete history, told in the words of the men and women who were there, of one of the most crucial battlegrounds of World War II.world war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – phillipines, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.548.non-fictionPearl Harbour. Kokoda. The fall of Singapore. Curtin's fight with Churchill. The bombing of Darwin. The Battle of Midway. POWs. Kamikaze. Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia herself was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on one hand and British apathy on the other. Until now the history of the Pacific War has largely been written from the American perspective. Now, for the first time, Peter Thompson places Australian voices and action at the heart of a struggle that took an unimaginable number of lives and only ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen. Pearl Harbor; The fall of Singapore; Curtin's fights with Churchill; The bombing of Darwin; POW camps; The battle of Midway; Kokoda; Buna; Kamikaze pilots; Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on the one hand and British deception on the other. After a conflict that took an unimaginable number of lives and ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen, the Allies emerged victorious. Australia, however, was criticised by Churchill and his generals for showing cowardice in the face of the enemy and for not caring about the fate of other nations. The endorsement of these claims by several military historians today shows that the smear has not gone away. Until nowworld war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – pacific, world war 1939 – 1945 – australia

Index, notes, ill, tales, p.175.non-fictionThe reminiscences of Australian POW's and Japanese historians at a meeting 50 years after the war ended on the Burma Thailand railway.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma - thailand railway

index, notes, ill, maps, p.332.non-fictionWorld War I was the war which has had the greatest impact on the course of the twentieth century. The first generation of its historians had access to a limited range of sources, and they focused primarily on military events. More recent approaches have embraced cultural, diplomatic, economic, and social history. In this authoritative and readable history, Hew Strachan combines these perspectives with a military and strategic narrative. The result is an account that breaks the bounds of national preoccupations to become both global and comparative. The first of three volumes in this study, To arms examines not only the causes of the war and its opening clashes on land and sea, but also the ideas that underpinned it, and the motivations of the people who supported it. It provides pioneering accounts of the war's finances, the war in Africa, and the Central Powers' bid to widen the war outside Europe.world war 1914-1918 - history, europe - history - 20th century

index, ill, maps, p.343.non-fictionThe the compelling story of Lieutenant Joseph "Darkie" Maxwell DCM, MC and Bar, VC – the second highest decorated Australian soldier of the First World War."A flash blinds me... We are lost in a chaos of flying mud... Smoke, filth,confusion, racket! I spit and splutter and swear... Oh Christ! I think I'm flamin' well dead." This is the compelling story of Lieutenant Joseph "Darkie" Maxwell DCM, MC and Bar, VC – the second highest decorated Australian soldier of the First World War. Meticulously researched by historian John Ramsland, Maxwell's colourful life is traced from his childhood on the Hunter coalfields until his death at age 71 in a soldier's settlement home in Matraville Sydney. Maxwell was a vivid storyteller who wrote Hells Bells and Mademoiselles, telling of his experiences in the war. In telling Maxwell's story, Ramsland has uncovered many forgotten documents to piece together an extraordinary life of an extraordinary man.wold war 1914-1918 - campaigns - western front, joseph maxwell - biography

index, ill, maps, p.224.non-fictionThe Western Front in World War I was the scene of devastating trench warfare and astonishing human loss: nearly 750,000 soldiers perished in the battles fought in France and Belgium from 1914 to 1918. In The Western Front, renowned historian Richard Holmes traces the path those soldiers took, and presents the political, military, and human dilemmas of a bitter and bloody war.world war 1914-1918 - western front - history, world war 1914-1918 - military history

Index, notes, ill, p.413.non-fictionAlthough generals, historians and war scholars might have told their versions, it is only when you read the words of the men in the frontline that you know what it was really like. The complete lists of the Australians and New Zealanders killed at Gallipoli are published for the first time in this new edition.world war 1914-1918 - campaigns - gallipoli, gallipoli campaign - personal recollections

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.179.non-fictionOver 60,000 Australians and Americans captured by the Japanese during World War II toiled and died to build the Bridge over the River Kwai. Respected military historian Linda Goetz Holmes tells the story of one man's survival in Japanese labor camps during WWII. Amazing photographs, taken secretly by other prisoners, chronicle this dark history of Allied troops in the Pacific theatre of war.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – australia, burma thailand railway

Ill, p.464.non-fictionFifty years after they served Australia in the Vietnam War, sixteen veterans of that conflict from the Yarra Valley sat down with the Mt Evelyn RSL's historian and revealed, some for the first time, their wartime experiences.Their stories tell of our nation's involvement in Vietnam and spans the period 1964 to 1972. They served with the Navy, with the Regular Army, with the CMF and as National Servicemen. Their backgrounds varied as much as their experiences 'in country' during that time.It is a story of sacrifice and endurance, bravery and loss, good times and bad times. It reveals the environment they were forced to exist in and the role they played, from the mundane to the terrifying.Surviving all of this they then returned home to a nation where many people ignored or even condemned them. For most, those decades after the war were an ongoing battle to deal with the physical and mental scars.vietnam war 1961-1975 – personal recollections – australia, veterans - victoria - yarra valley - biography

Index, ill, p.296.President Lincoln used his own weapons--his words--to fight the Civil War as brilliantly as any general who ever took the field. In Lincoln on War, historian Harold Holzer gathers and interprets Lincoln's speeches, letters, memoranda, orders, telegrams, and casual remarks, organizing them chronologically and allowing readers to experience Lincoln's growth from an eager young Indian War officer to a middle-aged dove congressman to a surprisingly hardened and determined hawk as the Union's commander-in-chief. We observe a man willing to sacrifice life and treasure in unprecedented quantities, to risk wounding the pride of vain generals, and even to mislead the public if it meant the preservation of an unbreakable union of states, the destruction of slavery, and the restoration of America as an example to inspire the world. This volume covers strategy; tactics; the endless hiring, sustaining, motivating, and dismissal of commanders; military discipline; and military technology. Modern commanders-in-chief have repeatedly quoted Lincoln to justify their own wars, so it behooves us as citizens to know Lincoln's record well. From masterpieces such as the Gettysburg Address to lesser-known meditations on God's purposes, Lincoln on War is the first book to highlight exclusively Lincoln's sublime and enduring words on waramerican civil war 1861-1865 - history, abraham lincoln 1809-1865 - leadership

Index, notes, ill, p.640.non-fictionAfter the slaughter of the First World War, Australians embarked on a remarkable programme of war memorial construction. These memorials, large and small, stand everywhere in the Australian landscape. They embody what Australians have wanted to say about the service and death of their compatriots in overseas wars. They express pride, grief, and perceptions of God, empire and nation, becoming the holy sites of a new civil and nationalist religion -- the cult of Anzac." "In this moving and beautifully written book, award-winning historian Ken Inglis traces the development of the Anzac cult, as well as looking at those who rejected it. Sacred Places also examines a paradox: why, as Australia's wars recede in memory, have these memorials and what they stand for become more cherished than ever? In this updated third edition, that question is pursued into the first decade of a new century.war memorials - australia, soldiers memorials - australia

Bibliography, ill, p.223.fictionIt is 1915, during World War I at Gallipoli, and Lt. Roy Irwin is missing. The young woman who loves him, and the men who fought beside him, begin their search for Lt. Irwin. Later, in 1919, historian C.E.W. Bean returns to Anzac Cove with artist George Lambert and soldier Harry Vickers to solve the greatest mystery of the campaign, to discover Gallipoli's secret. Forward to 2015, and Dr. Mark Troy's quest to preserve the peninsula from roadworks is sidetracked by political intervention and diplomatic intrigue. But a flirtation with a dynamic young woman from Army Intelligence uncovers long-forgotten documents protecting Gallipoli's graves. In this eagerly awaited book, one of Australia's leading historians uses a playful hybrid of history and fiction - moving between the historical realm and the world of the imagination - to recreate the most dramatic moments of the Gallipoli campaign in World War I.gallipoli campaign - fiction, war stories

Bibliography, ill, maps, p.692.non-fictionThis landmark book explores the richness and diversity of Australian military history, which has had a profound impact on the development of Australia. The two world wars - destructive yet often ennobling commitments for the young nation - have been the most important experiences for several generations of Australians, but military considerations and obligations have had a pervasive influence throughout Australian history. Just as it would be impossible to form a proper understanding of that history without due consideration of Gallipoli, the Kokoda Track, and conscription, it would be difficult to exaggerate the abiding influence of the 'digger' and the Anzac legend. From the beginnings of European settlement and the violence that accompanied it, to the more recent engagement of Australian forces in the Gulf War and peace-keeping operations in Africa, military questions have been a constant theme in the story of Australia. Anzac and Gallipoli are well-known names in the consciousness, but they can only be fully appreciated if examined in a wider context. This book does just that, providing a detailed analysis of Australian military achievements and an assessment of the importance of war in Australian history. The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History covers all aspects of this complex and fascinating subject. It contains more than 800 individual entries, written by leading military historians. All the major campaigns and battles are examined, along with significant military and civilian figures, such as Thomas Blamey, John Monash, John Curtin, Albert Jacka and Charles Bean. There are articles on weapons and weapons systems and on the development of the individual services and their component parts. The roles of industry, science and technology are analysed, and a series of essay-length articles discusses key aspects of our military legacy, including military humour and the impact of war on Australian film, television and literature. Here, then, is the most comprehensive guide to Australian military history, ranging from the colonial period to the 1990s. The Companion is supplemented by 100 photographs and by more than 30 maps. It is an indispensable source for students, specialists and general readers alike. Collapse summary australia - armed forces - history, australia - armed forces - encyclopaedias

Bibliography, ill, p.203.non-fictionCreated by soldiers under enemy fire and in extreme hardship, the illustrations, stories, cartoons, and poems were intended as a Christmas and New Year diversion for soldiers facing a harsh winter in the trenches on Gallipoli. This long-awaited third edition is a reproduction of the original book, with a new foreword by acclaimed author Les Carlyon, an introduction from Australian War Memorial historian Ashley Ekins, and added material originally rejected by the editor, official war correspondent C.E.W. Bean.world war 1914-1918 - campaigns - gallipoli, world war 1914-1918 - personal correspondence

Ill, p.240.non-fictionLeading military historian Richard Holmes has selected over 200 rare and unusual photographs to illustrate the wide range of the British Army's experience in the First World War - on all fronts, from Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Gallipoli to the Flanders trenches." "The book's topics include the preparations for war and the mobilisation of 1914; the 'roses of no-man's land' - the contribution made by nurses; 'blighty ones and other ones' - the wounded and their treatment; 'brother lead and sister steel' - soldiers and their weapons; scenes from the battlefield and the campaigns where Tommies fought; the armistice and its aftermath.world war 1914 -1918 - pictorial works, great britain - army - military life

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.224.Within three months of the Japanese entering World War II on December 8, 1941 over 22 000 Australians had become prisoners-of-war. They went into camps in Timor, Ambon, New Britain, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Singapore and Malaya, and a few were scattered to other points in what was briefly part of the Japanese empire. Later most of the prisoners were to be shifted further north into South-east Asia, Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and Japan itself. They were captives within lands and cultures and to experiences alien to those known to all other Australians. At the end of the war in August 1945, 14315 servicemen and thirty service women were alive to put on new, loose-fitting uniforms and go home. One in three of the prisoners had died. That is, nearly half of the deaths suffered by Australians in the war in the Pacific were among men and women who had surrendered. Another 8174 Australians had been captured in the fighting in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: but of these men only 265 died as a result of wounds, disease or execution.By any quantitative measure the imprisonment of so many Australians is a major event in Australian history. For many soldiers it was living --and dying --in captivity which made World War II different from that of World War I. But the prisoners have received no permanent place in Australian history. Their story is not immediately recalled on celebratory occasions. In a general history of the nation in which a chapter is given to the war the prisoners might be mentioned in a sentence, or part of a sentence. Where the horror, stoicism and gallantry of Gallipoli have become part of a common tradition shared by all Australians, the ex-prisoners are granted just the horror. The public may be sympathetic; but the horror is for the prisoners alone. To make another comparison: in five months of fighting on the Kokoda Trail in 1942 the Australians lost 625 dead, less than the number who died on Ambon. Yet the events on Ambon are unknown to most Australians. There were no reporters or cameramen on Ambon and, for the 309 who defended Ambon's Laha airfield, no survivors. How many of them died in battle or died as prisoners will never be known. But there are more than just practical reasons why the record of the prisoners of war is so slight and uneven in the general knowledge of Australians. They have not tried to find out. No historian has written a book to cover the range of camps and experiences, and only in specialist medical publications has anyone investigated the impact of prison life on subsequent physical and mental health. The complexity of the experience and its impact on particular lives have not been expressed in a way to give them significance for other Australians.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, world war 1939-1945 - personal narrativies - australia

Index, ill, maps, p.614.non-fictionTwo men came to personify generalship in the Second World War: Bernard Montgomery for the British and Erwin Rommel for the Germans. In the span of a few years, they fought a series of extraordinary duels across several theaters of war. Ever since, historians have assessed their leadership, personalities, and skill. Born four years apart, the two men followed a remarkably similar trajectory. Military historian Peter Caddick-Adams explores their lives, beginning with their provincial upbringing and the brutal trench fighting of World War I--where both nearly died. Obsessed with fitness and training, the future field marshals emerged with glowing records. They taught in staff colleges, wrote infantry textbooks, and fought each other as divisional commanders in 1940 before taking charge of their respective armies as the war raged on. This first comparative biography of these two soldiers explores how each was "made" by their war leaders, Churchill and Hitler, and how their strategies permeate down to today's armies.generals - germany - biography, generals - great britain - biography

Ill, map, p.449.non-fictionHistorian Hugh Ambrose deepens the experience of the HBO miniseries The Pacific, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and broadcast on the Seven Network. These are the true stories of the men who put their lives on the line for their country, who were dispatched to the other side of the world to fight an enemy who preferred suicide to surrender; men who suffered hardship and humiliation in POW camps; men who witnessed casualties among soldier and civilian alike; and men whose medals came at a shocking price. Covering nearly four years of combat, with unprecedented access to military records, letters, journals, memoirs, photographs and interviews, this volume offers a unique historical perspective on the war against Japan-and ultimately the triumphant yet uneasy return home. world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - pacific area, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – united states

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.476.non-fictionHMAS Sydney's hunt for the German raider, Emden. When the ships of the new Royal Australian Navy made their grand entry into Sydney Harbour in October 1913, a young nation was at peace. Under a year later Australia had gone to war in what was seen as a noble fight for king, country and Empire. Thousands of young men joined up for the adventure of having 'a crack at the Kaiser'. And indeed the German threat to Australia was real, and very near - in the Pacific islands to our north, and in the Indian Ocean. In the opening months of the war, a German raider, Emden, wreaked havoc on the maritime trade of the British Empire. Its battle against the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney, when it finally came, was short and bloody - an emphatic first victory at sea for the fledgling Royal Australian Navy. This is the stirring story of the perilous opening months of the Great War and the bloody sea battle that destroyed the Emden in a triumph for Australia that resounded around the world. In the century since, many writers have been there before Mike Carlton. Most were German, some of them survivors of the battle, others later historians, and they have generally told the story well. British accounts vary in quality, from good to nonsense, and there have been some patchwork American attempts as well. Curiously, there has been very little written from an Australian point of view. This book is - in part - an attempt to remedy that, with new facts and perspectives brought into the light of day.world war 1939 – 1945 – naval operations - australia, world war 1939 – 1945 –naval operations - germany

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.640.non-fictionFew years can justly be said to have transformed the earth: 1914 did. In July that year, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Britain and France were poised to plunge the world into a war that would kill or wound 37 million people, tear down the fabric of society, uproot ancient political systems and set the course for the bloodiest century in human history. In the longer run, the events of 1914 set the world on the path toward the Russian Revolution, the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Nazism and the Cold War. In 1914: The Year the World Ended, award-winning historian Paul Ham tells the story of the outbreak of the Great War from German, British, French, Austria-Hungarian, Russian and Serbian perspectives.world war 1914 - 1918 - history, world war 1914-1918 - causes

Ill, p.140.non-fictionAward-winning ABC-TV documentary maker, writer and Gallipoli historian, Harvey Broadbent has collected the haunting and often harrowing memories of the boys who came home...Australian and New Zealand soldiers who returned from the devastating campaign at Gallipoli in April 1915.world war 1914-1918 - campaigns - gallipoli, gallipoli campaign - personal recollections

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.613.non-fictionThis major global history of the twentieth century is written by four prominent international historians for first-year undergraduate level and upward. Using their thematic and regional expertise, the authors cover events in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas from the last century and beyond. Among the areas this book covers are: the decline of European hegemony over the international order; the diffusion of power to the two superpowers; the rise of newly independent states in Asia and Africa; and, the course and consequences of the major global conflicts of the twentieth century. This second edition is thoroughly updated, and includes extended coverage of European integration, the rise of supra-governmental organizations, and the 'global War on Terror'.world politics - 20th century, world politics 21st century

Index, p.317.non-fictionThis brilliant exposition established British naval historian Julian Corbett (1854-1922) as one of the great maritime strategists. Corbett placed naval warfare within the larger framework of human conflict, proposing that the key to maritime dominance lies in effective use of sea lines for communications and in denying that use to the enemy. His concept - which regarded naval strategy not as an end in itself but as a means to an end, with that end defined by national strategy - makes this a work of enduring value.naval strategy, sea power

While most historians of the Vietnam War focus on the origins of U.S. involvement and the Americanization of the conflict, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen examines the international context in which North Vietnamese leaders pursued the war and American intervention ended. 1961-1975, vietnam (democratic republic), vietnam war, 1961-1975 - peace, mekong delta, red river delta, president nixon

Fifty years after they served Australia in the Vietnam War, sixteen veterans of that conflict who live in the Yarra Valley sat down with the Mt Evelyn RSL's historian and revealed, some for the first time, their experiences before, during and after the war. 1961-1975 -- veterans -- victoria -- yarra valley, veterans -- victora -- yarra valley -- biography, vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- personal narratives, australian.

When journalist and historian Mark Dapin first interviewed Vietnam veterans and wrote about the war, he swallowed (and regurgitated) every popular misconception. He wasn't alone. In Australia's Vietnam, Dapin argues that every stage of Australia's Vietnam War has been misremembered and obscured by myth. He disproves claims that every national serviceman was a volunteer; questions the idea that Australian troops committed atrocities; debunks the fallacy that there were no welcome hope parades until 1987; and rebuts the fable that returned soldiers were met by spitting protesters at Australian airports 1961-1975 -- participation, vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- personal narratives, australian, national service -- australia -- history

When journalist and historian Mark Dapin first interviewed Vietnam veterans and wrote about the war, he swallowed (and regurgitated) every popular misconception. He wasn't alone. In Australia's Vietnam, Dapin argues that every stage of Australia's Vietnam War has been misremembered and obscured by myth. He disproves claims that every national serviceman was a volunteer; questions the idea that Australian troops committed atrocities; debunks the fallacy that there were no welcome hope parades until 1987; and rebuts the fable that returned soldiers were met by spitting protesters at Australian airports 1961-1975 -- participation, australian, vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- personal narratives, national service -- australia -- history.