In this fascinating account, leading Australian military historians tackle 10 of the most enduring historical zombies, or national myths, that have staggered their way through the halls of military history for more than 200 years. From Aboriginal resistance and invasion to Australia's recent involvement in East Timor, this record disproves the incorrectly memorialized and so-called gallant deeds of past Australian servicemen. Provocative and opinionated, this record attempts to correct the historical record.

Australian military history is a landscape of legends. Yet across the length and breadth of our military heritage, accuracy and objectivity are often shunted aside so that tales and myths bent on commemoration, veneration, and the idealisation of 'Australian' virtues can thrive. In Anzac's Dirty Dozen a team of renowned historians resume the battle to expose a host of stubborn fantasies and fabrications that obscure the real story. Did our military history start at Gallipoli? Do we really punch above our weight in military might? Are our soldiers more ethical than others in combat? Is the...

This book provides a comprehensive and compelling account of Australian military history before any soldier set foot on Gallipoli. It shows that this pre-1915 history has largely been forgotten. Indeed the extent to which Australians thought about war and experienced war before ANZAC existed will surprise many readers.Starting with detailed accounts of both traditional indigenous warfare and frontier wars between whites settlers and indigenous inhabitants, we learn of the setting up of colonial navies, the red coats who guarded the colonies, Australians fighting in wars against New Zealand...

Britannia's Shield: Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Hutton and the Late-Victorian Imperial Defence presents an in-depth, international study of imperial land defence prior to 1914. The book makes sense of the failures, false starts and successes that eventually led to more than 850 000 men being despatched from the Dominions to buttress Britain's Great War effort - an enormous achievement for intra-empire military cooperation. Craig Stockings presents a vivid portrayal of this complex process as it unfolded throughout the late-Victorian Empire through a biographical study of Lieutenant-General...