The War Game : Australian War Leadership from Gallipoli to Iraq.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Horner, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Australia. Australian Army.

Australia.

Leadership.

National security--Australia.

National security.

Military readiness.

Australia--Military policy.

Australia--Military policy--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (497 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

War Game

Place of Publication:

Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 2022.

Summary:

"Committing the nation to war is the gravest decision its leaders can make. The War Game examines why and how Australia went to war, and how it managed the nation's nine conflicts between the First World War and the Iraq War. It explores the relationships between some of the most dominant political leaders in Australian history - Billy Hughes, Robert Menzies, John Curtin, Harold Holt, John Gorton, Bob Hawke and John Howard - and their top military commanders, including William Birdwood, John Monash, Brudenell White, Thomas Blamey, Vernon Sturdee, Douglas MacArthur, Sydney Rowell, Frederick Scherger, John Wilton, Peter Gration and Peter Cosgrove. The War Game raises important questions about the process of war leadership. Should political leaders leave the conduct of the war to their top military commanders or should they interfere? Have Australia's war leaders always made wise decisions? Given that Australia has always fought as a junior partner in a coalition, either within the British Empire or as part of the US alliance, how should Australia's leaders manage these alliance arrangements? And how should Australia's future war leaders prepare for the tasks ahead?"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

'To our last man and out last shilling': Cook and Fisher, First World War 1914-15

'I'm an Atttorney-General not a Major General': Hughes, First World War 1915-17

'We shall have to humour': Hughes, First World War 1917-19

'A disposition to treat Australia as a colony': Menzies, Second World War, 1939-40

'Australia's very existence is at stake': Menzies, Second World War, 1941

'This is a new war': Curtin, Second World War, 1941-42

'The decision are matters for the Australian government': Curtin, Second World War, 1943-45

'We have not a minute more than three years': Menzies, Korean War and Malayan Emergency, 1950-55

'Looking for a way in and not a way out': Menzies, Confrontation and Vietnam, 1962-65

'All the way with LBJ': Holt, Vietnam War, 1965-67

'I'm certainly no trained strategist': Gorton and McMahon, Vietnam War, 1968-72

'Australia had vital interests at stake': Hawke, Gulf War, 1990-91

'It is right, it is lawful and it's in Australia's national interest': Howard, Afghanistan and Iraq commitments, 2001-03.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781761064739

1761064738

OCLC:

1333084687