'Australian military history is full of big names that loom large in the public memory of the nation's wartime experiences - Monash, Chauvel, Jacka and Blamey. But what about the others, influential but lesser known army strategists and leaders, who shaped the Australian Army? This book pulls them out of the shadows. The Shadow Men unites some of Australia's best military historians who shed light on ten of these men, intellectuals, strategists and administrators, foregrounding their achievements and influences.' (Publication Summary)
Contents:
Introduction / John Connor
1 The First Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir Edward 'Curley' Hutton / Craig Stockings and Tom Richardson
2 Duntroon to the Dardanelles: Major-General Sir William Bridges / Chris Clark
3 The Enigma: General Sir Cyril Brudenell Bingham White / Peter Stanley
4 Not Up to the Job? Major-General Gordon Legge / Chris Clark
5 The Soldier as Technocrat: Brigadier John William Alexander O'Brien / Jeffrey Grey
6 The Quiet Achiever: Lieutenant-General Sir John Northcott / Robert Stevenson
7 Fall and Rise: Lieutenant-General Sir Sydney Rowell / Karl James
8 A Military Intellectual: Colonel E.G. Keogh / Jeffrey Grey
9 The Catalyst: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Daly / Jeffrey Grey
10 Post-war Planner: Lieutenant-General Sir Mervyn Brogan / Tristan Moss.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-256) and index.
'First, a quibble. In the first paragraph of his introduction, John Connor writes that few Australians could ‘name a significant figure of the Australian Army’, John Monash and Simpson (and his donkey) aside. I am less sure. A generation after his death, Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop remains a familiar name. Two of the past three governors-general, including the incumbent, served in the highest ranks of the army. The governor of New South Wales is David Hurley, another former general. David Morrison had not long retired as head of the army when he was named 2016 Australian of the Year. Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most highly decorated living soldier, is chairman of the National Australia Day Council. In recent years, Australians have moved closer to Americans in their veneration of all things military, and with this development the nation’s bravest and most senior soldiers spend more time in the public eye. The army does not want for attention in modern Australia.' (Introduction)
'First, a quibble. In the first paragraph of his introduction, John Connor writes that few Australians could ‘name a significant figure of the Australian Army’, John Monash and Simpson (and his donkey) aside. I am less sure. A generation after his death, Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop remains a familiar name. Two of the past three governors-general, including the incumbent, served in the highest ranks of the army. The governor of New South Wales is David Hurley, another former general. David Morrison had not long retired as head of the army when he was named 2016 Australian of the Year. Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most highly decorated living soldier, is chairman of the National Australia Day Council. In recent years, Australians have moved closer to Americans in their veneration of all things military, and with this development the nation’s bravest and most senior soldiers spend more time in the public eye. The army does not want for attention in modern Australia.' (Introduction)