Publisher's Synopsis
Defence of the nation is one of the fundamental obligations of government. For much of the first century of the Commonwealth of Australia that obligation has been tested - in two world wars, and in a series of other military engagements. The military reputation that has grown out of these defining moments in Australian history has been a significant factor in moulding Australians' views of themselves, yet service matters have not often attracted any great degree of public interest. The Australian Centenary History of Defence explains the complexities of this essential strand of the Commonwealth's first century - the successes and the failures, the progress and the setbacks, in peace and war.
