The Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales

 
Book Reviews

A selection of Book Reviews reviews have been prepared for viewing online as pdf documents (Adobe Acrobat reader required - visit www.adobe.com and download (free)).

Book Reviews are listed in alphabetical order by author. Hold down [Ctrl] then press [F] to search for a review, then click on the green button to download and view it.

	David W. Cameron The battle of Long Tan: Australia's four hours of hell in Vietnam Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Michael Carlton Flagship: the cruiser HMAS Australia II and the Pacific war on Japan Reviewed by Dominique Spoelder
	Anne Donnell Letters of an Australian Army Sister Reviewed by Paul Simadas
	Kevin Foster Don't mention the war: the Australian Defence Force, the media and the Afghan conflict. Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Paul Ham Passchendaele: requiem for doomed youth Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Alistair Horne Hubris: the tragedy of war in the twentieth century Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Jennifer Lawless Kismet: the story of the Gallipoli prisoners of war Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Ian Morris War! What is it good for? The role of conflict in civilisation, from primates to robots Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Mary Roach Grunt: the curious science of humans at war Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	Cameron Simpson The Frontier Light Horse in the Anglo-Zulu War 1879; An Irregular Regiment on Campaign Reviewed by Brad Manera
	Alan Smith Allenby's gunners: artillery in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns 1916-1918 Reviewed by Tim Ford
	Fred Smith The dust of Uruzgan Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
	L. W. Sutherland MC DCM, written in collaboration with Norman Ellison Aces and Kings Reviewed by Paul Simadas
	Nikolaus Wachsmann KL: a history of the Nazi concentration camps Reviewed by Marcus Fielding

Preparing and Submitting a Book Review

Writing tips

A book review written for United Service should not exceed 400 words (short reviews) or 850 words (long reviews).

The opening paragraph should be designed to capture the reader's attention and should briefly state what the book is about - its key focus, e.g. naval strategy in the Pacific during World War II.

The second paragraph should give a brief background of the author and his/her suitability or qualifications for writing this book.

Subsequent paragraphs should elaborate the book's main content.

If the author presents a specific theme, thesis or position in the book, that theme should be clearly presented.
It may be appropriate to comment on the nature, quality and extent of the research undertaken by the author to underpin his/her thesis.
If the reviewer has an opinion on the author, contents or presentation of the book, it is appropriate to state that opinion. If the author takes a controversial position on a matter, this may be critically examined.
It may be helpful to a potential reader to summarise the book's structure and content.

In the penultimate paragraph(s), it may be appropriate to comment on the presence or absence or quality of the index, references, bibliography, maps, photographs, diagrams or similar inclusions. It also may be appropriate to comment on the style in which the prose is written, e.g. a book may be criticised as being written in a dull or overly-journalistic style.

The concluding paragraph should summarise the reviewer's overall assessment of the book, e.g. this book provides new insight into the topic, or is one of the best I have read on the topic. The concluding paragraph should also include a recommendation about the people to whom the book might appeal - general readers, Australian Defence Force personnel, veterans, students, historians, etc.

Submission

The review should be submitted as a 'Word' file. The content should conform to the style of similar book reviews in recent issues of United Service and the guide for MAJOR PAPERS as applicable. For recently published books, the review should be accompanied by a scanned photo of the cover as a separate .pdf or image (.jpg, .png) file.

The reviewer should include her/his first name and family name; and provide the following details of the book:

title;
author;
name of publisher;
place of publication;
date of publication;
number of pages;
ISBN;
recommended retail price (for recently published books only); and
Ursula Davidson Library call number (for books that are in the library only).

Reviews should be addressed to the Editor either at office@rusinsw.org.au (preferred); or by post to the Institute's offices: Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, New South Wales, PO Box A778, Sydney South NSW 1235, Australia. For electronic submissions, text should be attached to the e-mail as a 'Word' file and illustrations as a separate .pdf or image (.jpg, .png) file.

Submission of book review implies the transfer of the copyright from the author to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, New South Wales as the website publisher. Submission also implies that the author has not published the material, nor submitted it for publication, elsewhere; unless previous publication is clearly stated and the first publisher has granted permission for the material to be re-published.