Page 104 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec19-Jan20

104 BOOKS OF INTEREST
DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
THE GREAT WAR
AFTERMATH AND COMMEMORATION
By Carolyn Holbrook & Keir Reeves (eds.) Published by UNSW Press
RRP $34.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781742236629
There is much to admire in this collection of thought-provoking essays. Meleah Hampton’s insights into the repatriation of Australians after the Armistice remind us of the enormous challenge of repatriating hundreds of thousands of soldiers and settling them back into society. Joan Beaumont
THE HINDENBURG LINE 1918
AUSTRALIAN ARMY CAMPAIGNS SERIES – 26
By Adam Rankin
RRP $19.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781922265036
This is the latest book in the excellent Australian Army Campaigns series that began with The Battle of Crete (2005). So what was the Hindenburg Line? Rankin explains that the ‘line’ was actually a series of defensive positions constructed by the German Army after the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Within
remembers the resilient – and those who were not quite so resilient – and wonders at the ‘protective factors’ that make some people able to adjust to post-war life and others not. And let’s not forget the politicians’ role in moulding the Anzac mythology to suit their own world view. In Making Sense of the Great War Centenary, Carolyn Holbrook looks at the failure
of well-made and historically accurate Anzac-themed TV programs to attract viewing audiences. Is she correct when she opines that the ‘bulk of Australians demonstrated by their actions that they were uninterested in extending or challenging their understanding of Australian involvement in WWI’? Yet, anyone critical of the Anzac legend on social media is roundly condemned. The legacy of war is complex and this book reminds us that we live with the legacies of war still, in ways we may not see.
this overall plan, individual
lines such as the Siegfried Line, running from Arras to
the Aisne River, allowed the Germans to shorten their
front, thus releasing several divisions into reserve. The
aim of the Germans was to maximise the advantages of terrain. Rankin has used maps extensively to illustrate the ebb and flow of the positions on the Western Front. He details the two fiercely fought set-piece battles which saw Fourth Army break through the German
line, paving the way for the
final pursuit which ended with the Armistice. The Australian Corps was a pivotal part of the offensive, culminating in the assault to capture Montbrehain. As with the earlier books in this Campaigns series, this latest addition will be much sought after reading, recounting as
it does the last Australian
battle of the war and the final push for victory.
FIRST KNOW YOUR ENEMY
COMPREHENDING IMPERIAL GERMAN WAR AIMS AND DECIPHERING THE ENIGMA OF KULTUR By John A Moses, with Peter Overlack Published by Australian Scholarly Publishing
RRP $39.95 in paperback ISBN 9781925801613
John Moses, an Australian (and German-educated) historian, with the assistance of Peter Overlack, to challenge a number of prevailing views on Australia’s role in WWI and especially on Australia’s confrontation with the German Empire. He takes
THE LONG SEARCH
FOR PEACE
OBSERVER MISSIONS AND BEYOND, 1947-2006 – VOL 1
By Peter Londey, Rhys Crawley
and David Horner
Published by Cambridge
University Press
RRP $179.00 in hardback
ISBN 9781108482981
This is the final volume of the Australian Peacekeeping series, despite it being volume 1. Five earlier volumes have been released. This volume describes the Australian peacekeeping missions that began between
issue with the ‘presentist’ writers who seek ‘to dominate the historical-political consciousness of citizens’ through a selective reading of the past. Moses
is adamant that Australia’s
and NZ’s participation in the Great War was both necessary and inevitable. Necessary because Germany, through
its naval power, had designs
on neutralising the flow of key raw materials from Australia to Britain. Inevitable because of Australia’s membership of the British Empire. Moses believes the ‘presentist’ writers willfully ignore the depth of the sense of belonging that Australians felt to the British Empire in 1914. This is a genuinely thought-provoking book from an author with a deep understanding and knowledge of German history and society. This book represents a refreshing and interesting take on a much-studied subject;
one for your bookshelf.
1947-1982 through to 2006.
The six volumes together offer
a comprehensive account of
all Australian peacekeeping missions of the period, except for East Timor. Peacekeeping is an invention of the 20th century involving multinational forces deployed in the wake of conflict to bring about conditions that will lead to a more peaceable future. In the immediate post
war period, it was decolonisation that often created the instability which demanded intervention, first tested in the late 1940s in relation to Indonesia. Indonesia, Kashmir, the Six Day War and its aftermath, West New Guinea, Cyprus
– there is a long list of world troublespots that have one thing in common: Australia’s contribution to peacekeeping missions. The political environment in each
era is explored as successive governments balanced
political considerations against international obligations. Verdict: An important milestone in military history publishing in Australia. ■
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