Overview

Professor Emeritus David Horner AM FASSA is one of Australia's greatest military historians and its fifth official historian of war and military operations. Few who undertake research in the field can do so without consulting his prodigious, authoritative and definitive publications. Serving for 25 years in the Australian Army before joining The Australian National University, Horner is the epitome of the soldier–scholar and has played a key role in establishing military history as an academic discipline in Australia. This volume honours Horner’s long career of service to history and the nation. Authors pay tribute to Horner’s legacy by engaging with his scholarship, applying his conclusions to new case studies and contexts, reflecting and expanding on the subjects he addressed and the methodologies he employed, and pushing the boundaries of the discipline he was instrumental in founding. The breadth of Horner’s research is demonstrated by the subjects and themes they address, including strategic planning and policy, command, multinational operations, intelligence and defence policy. Military History Supremo both underscores Horner’s contribution to Australia’s military and intelligence history and highlights the vibrancy and relevance of the field today.

Full Product Details

Author:   Joan Beaumont ,  Garth Pratten
Publisher:   ANU Press
Imprint:   ANU Press
ISBN:  

9781760466831

ISBN 10:   1760466832
Publication Date:   12 June 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of illustrations List of contributors Acknowledgements Foreword – Robert J O'Neill Introduction – Joan Beaumont and Garth Pratten Part I: David Horner as soldier, scholar and colleague Understanding the 'mechanism of war’: the making of a soldier–scholar – Garth Pratten Living the legacy: David Horner and Official History in Australia – Craig Stockings Part II: Strategy and high command The psychology of strategic decision-making: Ambon 1941–42 – Joan Beaumont Why Australia has gone to war: some reflections on the nineteenth century – Jean Bou History frames policy: David Horner and the future of Australia’s defence – Hugh White Part III: Command and commanders A ‘Crisis of Command’ in Bengal, 1849–50: a Hornerian analysis – Peter Stanley Filling the gap: Lieutenant General Sir Harold ‘Hooky’ Walker KCB, KCMG, DSO: a study in command – Chris Roberts Plate section Part IV: Coalition warfare The four pillars of human interoperability for multinational military integration: the Australian experience – Steven Paget ‘Everybody doing their thing’: coalition warfare in southern Afghanistan, 2006–10 – Rhys Crawley and Garth Pratten Part V: Intelligence Codebreaking in the Asia‑Pacific War: struggle and triumph, May 1942 to December 1944 – Richard Frank David Horner, intelligence history and Venona – John Blaxland Part VI: Changing environments The history of the Australian Defence Force and space – Tristan Moss Soldiers as peacekeepers, peacekeepers as soldiers: the Australian experience – Peter Londey Disappointing the dragon: an Australian strategy and a fourth armed service for the grey zone – Bob Breen Part VII: Epilogue Australia’s war dead: government policy, military practice and the Vietnam War – Kate Ariotti Appendix 1: David Horner: professional career Appendix 2: David Horner: publications

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