Table of Contents

Introduction
1 'To our last man and our last shilling': Cook and Fisher, First World War 1914-15
2 'I'm an Attorney-General not a Major General': Hughes, First World War, 1915-17
3 'We shall have to humour them': Hughes, First World War, 1917-19
4 'A disposition to treat Australia as a colony': Menzies, Second World War, 1939-40
5 'Australia's very existence is at stake': Menzies and Fadden, Second World War, 1941
6 'This is a new war': Curtin, Second World War, 1941-42
7 'The decisions are matters for the Australian government': Curtin, Second World War, 1943-45
8 'We have not a minute more than three years': Menzies, Korean War and Malayan Emergency,1950-55
9 'Looking for a way in and not a way out': Menzies, Confrontation and Vietnam, 1962-65
10 'All the way with LBJ': Holt, Vietnam War, 1965-67
11 'I'm certainly no trained strategist': Gorton and McMahon, Vietnam War, 1968-72
12 'Australia had vital interests at stake': Hawke, Gulf War, 1990-91
13 'It is right, it is lawful and it's in Australia's national interest': Howard, Afghanistan and Iraq Commitments, 2001-03
Conclusion
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

David Horner, AM, FASSA, is an emeritus professor in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. He served as an infantry platoon commander in the Vietnam War and later, as a colonel, was head of the Australian Army's Land Warfare Studies Centre. He is the author or editor of 37 books on Australian military history, defence and intelligence, including The Spy Catchers, SAS Phantoms of War, Duty First, Blamey, and Battles that shaped Australia.

Reviews

'Absorbing' - The Australian