RAN Reading List
General Military History
The RAN has been inextricably linked with land and air operations since its inception in the early 20th century. Indeed, the first operations of the RAN in WW 1 were in support of landings by New Zealand troops in Samoa and Australian forces in New Guinea. Today many, if not all, of the RAN's operations are combined with the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force.
A History of Warfare
by John Keegan published by Hutchinson, London, 1993
Based on the premise that all civilisations originate in conflict, this work is a sweeping view of the place of warfare in human culture and an exposition of the human impulse toward violence. It probes the motivations and methods of war over the centuries --from the strangely ritualistic combat of Stone Age peoples to today's warfare of mass destruction. In the process, it shows how war has maintained its singular hold on the imagination, reaching into 'the most secret places of the human heart, places where self dissolves rational purpose, where pride reigns, where emotion is paramount, where instinct is king.'
War in the Modern World
by Theodore Ropp published by Collier Books, New York, 1962
War in the Modern World is a survey of warfare since the 15th century. It achieves an admirable balance between sea, land and air warfare; a quality which is maybe only ever achieved by a civilian with enough distance from all three services to be objective. More importantly it examines warfare in terms of political, social and economic developments, allowing a comprehensive understanding of military organisations as a part of a society. It is a very readable book, with excellent footnotes.
Military Effectiveness (3 Vols.)
edited by Allan R. Millet and Williamson Murray published by Unwin Hyman, Boston, 1988
People and organisations involved in military endeavours are more harshly judged than their contemporaries in civilian occupations; the results of military operations at all levels are immediately obvious and the cost of victory is only exceeded by that of defeat. Military Effectiveness examines the military organisations of the principal participants in both World Wars; Britain, Germany, France, Italy, the United States, Japan and Russia. The three volumes are focused on WWI, the Interwar Period and WWII. These volumes examine effectiveness at the political, strategic, operational and tactical levels. This is an excellent series by some of the world's leading military historians. The organisational problems faced by military services are often the most intractable, as they do not always have to face the test of combat, and are the subject of many vested interests and entrenched rivalries. An understanding of organisational change and the implications of an inefficient organisation are very important subjects for any military service.
War and the 20th Century: The Impact of War on the Modern Consciousness
by Christopher Coker
published by Brassey's, London, 1994
War has been a fundamental and pervasive influence on almost all areas of civilisation this century. Two examples which are important in an Australian context are the place of Gallipoli and the Anzacs in national consciousness and the rise of the Asian nation states after WWII. But it is more widespread than even these two examples indicate; language, literature, national identities and consciousness, history, business and science have all been profoundly affected by war. Even relatively limited conflicts have significance in these respects. Given that 'winning the peace' is often determined by non-military as well as military factors, an understanding of war's total impact is important.
The Origins of the Second World War
by A.J.P. Taylor
published by Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1963
A.J.P. Taylor would have made a good sailor, because he never let the truth get in the way of a good story. A remarkable historian, Taylor was certainly not above stirring the pot. This book was highly controversial when published in 1963, arguing that Hitler was not a demon bent on European hegemony but a logical statesman attempting to find Germany her rightful place in the sun. Likewise he saw Chamberlain, not as a weak and foolish man, but as a leader trying to avoid war in any reasonable manner. Taylor's book motivated the detailed reconsideration of the origins of WWII and was the start of a large revisionist movement. Much of what he wrote has been countered but some of the basic thrusts of the book were incorporated into the histories which followed.
Total War: The Causes and Courses of the Second World War
by Peter Calvocoressi, Guy Wint and John Pritchard
published by Pantheon Books, New York, 2nd edn., 1989
Total War is a general history book, looking at the causes of the war and the way in which it was fought. Originally published in 1972, the 2nd edition was published some 17 years later and takes account of the large amount of material which became available in the interim, information on the intelligence side of the war most notably of all. This is one of the best general histories of WWII. (Note: The UK printed version is in two volumes).
Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War
by John Ellis
published by Andre Deutsch, London, 1990
This book combines economic analysis of the nations involved in WWII with examination of the tactics and strategies they pursued. It is a particularly pertinent method of examining the ultimate war of the Industrial Age, where mass was crucial. The disparity between the war making capacity of the Allied and Axis countries was enormous and had great effects on the ways in which they fought. The book uses case studies of various actions to illustrate the larger arguments it puts forward, making it relatively easy to understand.
The Centenary History of Defence - Volume 1 - The Australian Army
by Jeffrey Grey published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2001
This book is a history of the Australian Army as an institution. It is not a history of the army's battles, nor a study of the Australian soldier, nor is it a study of command or of senior commanders. The Australian Army is the first history of the army which seeks to explain its development, it is a portrait of the Australian Army with its shortcomings and failures, its triumphs and successes. The business of armies is war, and war is a wretched business. There is much in the story of the Australian Army that is admirable, some things that are noble, and a few which should still have the power to inspire generations of Australians to thank those who have worn the uniform, for the fact that they can avoid first-hand knowledge of the business of war.
(Readers may wish to also consider the publications of the Australian Army's Land Warfare Studies Centre at www.defence.gov.au/army/lwsc/)
The Centenary History of Defence - Volume 2 - The Royal Australian Air Force
by Alan Stephens
published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2001.
Histories of air forces often focus on aeroplanes at the expense of people. Yet while aircraft represent a unique, even exciting form of combat power, they are simply an extension of human ingenuity, skill, courage and resilience. It is not machines that make history and cause organisations to prosper: it is people. In the course of its 80-year history the Royal Australian Air Force has developed an enviable reputation. This volume tells that story through the experiences of the airmen and airwomen who have served Australia around the world and over the years, from Mesopotamia in 1915 to East Timor in 2000.
(Readers may wish to also consider the publications of the RAAF's Air Power Development Centre at www.raaf.gov.au/AirPower/index.asp)
The Centenary History of Defence - Volume 4 - Making the Australian Defence Force
by David Horner published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2001
Making the Australian Defence Force tells the surprising story of how and why Australia's three independent, jealous and proud Services -the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force -were brought together to form the joint force that performed brilliantly in East Timor in 1999. The ADF is one of the world's leading 'joint' military forces. East Timor showed that it has reaped the advantages that come from the cooperation among the three Services, while still retaining the single-Service ethos that is critical to military success. This book traces how the ADF's success was hard-won over years of trial and error in peacetime exercises, and how the new organisations and techniques were refined in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda and Bougainville.
The Centenary History of Defence - Volume 5 - The Department of Defence
by Eric Andrews
published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2001.
The Department of Defence was one of the original departments established by the new Commonwealth of Australia at the birth of Federation. This book traces the development of the Department from its tiny staff of 12 in 1901 to the huge and complex organisation that administers every aspect of our modern defence capability. Against the background of dramatic changes to Australia's strategic situation over the past century, this volume examines the challenging issues that have risen from these changes; issues such as the relationship between civilian and uniformed members of the Department, the management of competing claims of the individual Services on scarce resources, and the place of Defence in the broad range of governmental responsibilities.
The Centenary History of Defence - Volume 6 - Sources and Statistics
by Joan Beaumont, et al.
published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2001
The history of Australia's war experience has been brief but strikingly eventful. In the 20th century, Australian defence forces have been involved in two world wars, four conflicts within the Asia-Pacific region, the 1990-1991 Gulf War and, since 1947, over 30 peacekeeping and United Nations operations. This book aims to provide the reader with guidance about the current state of research on all aspects of the history of the Australian defence forces. Part I focuses on issues, individuals or subjects, across a broad range of areas from the history of the three services to the legacy of war. The RAN chapter includes background information on organisation, administration, history, specialist arms and some of the navy's people. Part II gives guidance as to where research resources and archival records relevant to the study of the Australian defence forces may be found, in Australia and overseas.
The Centenary History of Defence - Volume 7 - An Atlas of Australia's Wars
by John Coates
published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2001
Completing the comprehensive seven volume series on the Australian Centenary History of Defence, is this magnificent atlas. Covering frontier conflict and colonial wars during the 19th century, and the ten wars in which Australians have been involved in the centenary 1901-2001, this is a book like no other. Adequate maps are of the highest importance in armed conflict, where campaigns have risen or fallen, succeeded or failed, for the want of reliable maps or charts. This atlas gives readers a tangible link between the operations and campaigns described in the text and their expression in graphic form by the maps.
Defence Supremo: Sir Frederick Shedden and the Making of Australian Defence Policy
by David Horner published by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2000
Defence Supremo tells the little-known but dramatic story of the most powerful figure in Australian defence policy-making during a crucial period of the nation's history. Sir Frederick Shedden was Secretary of the Defence Department from 1937 to 1956 -including WWII, the onset of the Cold War and Australia's commitment to the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency. Shedden dominated the Australian Defence Organisation for two decades and, some argued, usurped the powers of the military chiefs. By the late 1940s terms such as 'civilian commander-in-chief', 'defence supremo' and 'defence czar' were used about him. Shedden's remarkable story is essential background for understanding the development of the Australian Defence Organisation and policy, and has great relevance for current policy-makers.
Supplying War: From Wallenstein to Patton
by Martin Van Creveld published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2nd edn., 2004
Drawing on a very wide range of unpublished and previously unexploited sources, Martin van Creveld examines the 'nuts and bolts' of war. He considers the formidable problems of movement and supply, transportation and administration, often mentioned (but rarely explored) by the vast majority of books on military history. By concentrating on logistics rather than on the more traditional tactics and strategy, van Creveld is also able to offer an original reinterpretation of military history.
Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present
edited by John A. Lynn published by Westview Press, Boulder Colorado, 1993
Feeding Mars presents essays by 11 leading scholars who contribute to and revise the history of logistics. Chapters emphasise the way in which the essentials of war were acquired and transported to fighting forces, but also touch upon planning and production. Feeding Mars makes a major contribution to military history and sheds new light on an important, but too often over looked, aspect of warfare.
Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War
by Eliot Cohen and John Gooch published by Free Press, New York, 1990
Cohen and Eliot examine that phenomenon which finds apparent good fortune in battle transformed into misfortune -snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Backed by historical examples the authors cite three specific kinds of military misfortune: failure to anticipate (Israeli Defence Forces in the Yom Kippur War); failure to learn (USN anti-submarine warfare early in WWII); and failure to adapt (the Gallipoli campaign in WWI). When any, or all, of these misfortunes occur simultaneously, the effect can be catastrophic.
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000
by Paul Kennedy
published by Harper Collins, London, 1988
Kennedy surveys the ebb and flow of power among the major states of Europe from the 16th century when Europe's pre-eminence first took shape through and beyond the present era when great power status is devolving again upon the extra-European states. Stressing the interrelationships among economic wealth, technological innovation, and the ability of states efficiently to tap their resources for prolonged military preparedness and war making, he notes that those states with the relatively greater ability to maintain a balance of military and economic strength assumed the lead. Kennedy never reduces the analysis to crude materialism or empty tautology.
Battling the Elements:Weather and Terrain in the Conduct of War
by Harold A. Winters
published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1998.
This stimulating book examines what many others on military history ignore: the effect the environment (physical terrain, weather, vegetation, etc) has on battle. Each chapter focuses on a different environmental problem, and reveals the various ways in which it can influence a battle's outcome. A section on storms, for instance, shows how the elements randomise success: in the 12th century, a typhoon ruined Kublai Khan's attempted invasion of Japan, yet relatively calm seas helped assure the Allied victory on D-day hundreds of years later. Another chapter compares and contrasts the dense forests of the Battle of the Wilderness during the Civil War with the intractable jungles of Vietnam. One lesson this book teaches is that bad weather usually favours defenders: the Germans used fog and precipitation to their advantage during the Battle of the Bulge, as did the Viet Cong during the siege of Khe Sanh. The authors draw a few predictable conclusions-planning, logistics, leadership, and tactics are all critical, they say - but on the whole they provide a fascinating look at how wind, clouds, waves, rain, snow, mud, sand, heat, hills, mountains, and islands (to name a few factors) affect war.
Armament and History: The Influence of Armament on History from the Dawn of Classical Warfare to the end of the Second World War
by J.F.C. Fuller
published by Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998.
Armament and History is a broad survey spanning the ancient world to the atomic age, showing how military innovation has changed the course of history time and again. Fuller never gets mired in dense detail, and has a knack for finding apt (and sometimes humorous) anecdotes. Mounted war elephants, for example, traditionally have had a dramatic impact on troops who had never seen them before. When one general employed them against the Gauls, he confessed, 'I am ashamed to think that we owe our safety to these 16 animals.' Yet as Fuller shows, successful weapons always meet even more successful ones (an army once attacked war elephants by covering pigs with pitch, lighting them on fire, and driving them toward the burly beasts). This is a fine introduction to the development of weaponry over the last 3,000 years.
The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States and War
edited by Williamson Murray, Alvin Bernstein, and MacGregor Knox published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994
Moving beyond the limited focus of the individual strategic theorist or the great military leader, The Making of Strategy concentrates instead on the processes by which rulers and states have formed strategy. Seventeen case studies from the 5th century BC to the present, analyse through a common framework how strategists have sought to implement a coherent course of action against their adversaries. This fascinating book considers the impact of such complexities as the geographic, political, economic and technical forces that have driven the transformation of strategy since the beginning of civilisation and seem likely to alter the making of strategy in the future.
The Long Gray Line: West Point's Class of 1966
by Rick Atkinson published by Collins, London, 1990
The West Point Class of 1966 joined the US military in 1962 and graduated just as the US war effort in Vietnam was stepping up. They suffered more casualties than any other class from West Point. The Long Grey Line, reflecting the West Point dress uniform, traces the careers of some of the members of that class and describes some of the most traumatic years in US Army history. It gives an insight into the background of the current leadership of the US Army and describes some of the upheaval in US society during and following on from the Vietnam War. This book is superbly written. It will be of interest to all people who have had contact with any service training institution, as the problems encountered at West Point are common to most training establishments.
The Age of Battles
by Russell F. Weigley
published by Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, 1991, (reprint 2004)
From Gustavus Adolphus's 1631 victory at Breitenfeld in the Thirty Years War to Napoleon's 1815 defeat at Waterloo, the primary instrument of military strategy was the grand-scale battle waged with the goal of winning a political as well as military decision. In this first-class study of the battles of Gustavus, Charles II, Louis XIV, Marlborough, Nelson, Napoleon and Wellington, Weigley brings into sharp focus the irony that warfare throughout the period was most often a matter of prolonged, indecisive struggle that expressed a bankruptcy of national policy. The book traces the development of the professional officer class during the two century era and the evolution of command and control techniques in the field. Weigley discusses the limitations of violence in battle through the restraints of international law and custom, and analyses the surprising fact that military tactics, technology and organisation remained essentially the same from Breitenfeld to Waterloo.
The Histories
by Herodotus, (translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt)
published by Penguin, Harmondsworth, revised edn., 1972
The Histories describes the heroic and successful struggle of a small and divided Greece against the mighty empire of Persia, and includes the earliest recorded naval campaigns of Marathon, Salamis and Mycale. Herodotus has been called the Father of History; but when evidence was lacking, he recorded popular belief, and the result is one of the most entertaining books in the world.
History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides, (translated by Rex Warner)
published by Penguin, Harmondsworth, revised edn., 1972
This book is a detailed contemporary account of the long life-and-death struggle that commenced in 431 BC between Athens and Sparta. In essence this describes a war between the dominant naval and military powers in Ancient Greece. At times a dry read, but the lessons remain valid today.
