Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie Morshead was one of Australia's greatest soldiers. Drawing on previously inaccessible private records and recent scholarship, David Coombes provides a candid account of this famous field commander and shows why Morshead's distinguished career fits into Australia's military tradition.

Morshead: Hero of Tobruk and El Alamein (Australian Army History)

History

Coombes, David

Australia & Oceania

Oxford University Press

This volume examines the European Parliament s symbolic, representative and legislative roles and will prove an effective stimulus for understanding an institution that is often misrepresented in the media. Members of the media, together with policy-makers, bankers, academics and business people in many fields will accordingly find the study a most useful reference. While the constitutional role of the Parliament within the system of governance of the EU has advanced markedly, its sociological relevance remains at a low ebb. More generally, it is clear that, despite the widening scale and scope of EU-level powers, the salience of specifically EU politics remains low. From a utilitarian perspective, whatever it is that the European Parliament does, MEPs do not appear to be changing the fundamentals of Europe s security and prosperity. It may no longer be enough for the Parliament to seek to close the democratic deficit in the EU without addressing social change. Indeed, on the hypothesis that European integration is the process of social change, the democratic deficit stems from the failure of the European Parliament (with other EU institutions) to develop social cohesion on a transitional basis. In a brilliant essay, David Coombes challenges the existing notions of what the European Parliament does and how it contributes to European unification. He concludes that it must re-invent itself if it is to contribute effectively to the governance of an emerging post-national society in Europe. Ideal for policy-makers, bankers, academics, business and the media from both within and without the current member states.

Seven Theorems Search Euro Par (Federal Trust)

Business & Money

International

The Federal Trust

'Truly we are objects of interest to the Jerries we meet on the road, and especially in the villages. Taunts are hurled at us; epithets are numerous, and souvenir hunters molest us, but so far not violently. After passing through the village of Villers, we come across some British prisoners who are clearing the road, and they present a sorry spectacle, unshaven and dirty looking... Some offered some appeal for food, but we have none to give. In fact we are ourselves hungry... Their predicament does not create in us a very favorable impression, although I like others, do not realize the seriousness of what is in store for us. The future is a blank, as no-one knows what it holds.' So wrote an Australian prisoner-of-war, Corporal Lancelot Davies, only recently taken prisoner at the first battle of Bullecourt, on 11 April 1917. For him - like another 1,200 Australians captured at Bullecourt - the future was indeed 'blank' and unpredictable. The experiences of Australian prisoners of war (POWs) or Kriegsgefangeners held captive in Germany has been largely forgotten or ignored- overshadowed by the terrible stories of Australians imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. Yet, as David Coombes makes known, the stories are interesting and significant - not only providing an account of what those young Australian soldiers experienced, and the spirit they showed in responding to captivity - but also for the insight it provides into Germany in the last eighteen months of the war. Drawing on previous inaccessible records, Coombes focuses on one Australian brigade, the 4th Infantry, from its formation in 1914, through Gallipoli to its baptism of fire on the Western Front, culminating in the first battle of Bullecourt - which, in turn, leads to the prisoner of war experience.

Crossing The Wire: The Untold Stories of POWs in Battle and Captivity During WWI

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Big Sky Publishing

So wrote an Australian prisoner-of-war, Corporal Lancelot Davies, only recently taken prisoner at the first battle of Bullecourt, on 11 April 1917. For him-like another 1,200 Australians captured at Bullecourt-the future was indeed 'blank' and unpredictable. The experiences of Australian prisoners of war (POWs) or Kriegsgefangeners held captive in Germany has been largely forgotten or ignored-overshadowed by the horrid stories of Australians imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. Yet, as David Coombes makes known, the stories are interesting and significant-not only providing an account of what those young Australian soldiers experienced, and the spirit they showed in responding to captivity-but also for the insight it provides into Germany in the last eighteen months of the war.

Crossing The Wire: The untold stories of Australian POWs in battle and captivity during WWI

Military

ReadHowYouWant

In April-May 1917 the sleepy hamlet of Bullecourt in Northern France became the focus of two battles involving British and Australian troops. Given the unique place in Australia's military history that both battles occupy, surprisingly little has been written on the AIF's achievements at Bullecourt. Bloody Bullecourt seeks to remedy this gasping omission. The First Battle of Bullecourt marked the Australians' introduction to the latest battlefield weapon - the tank. This much-lauded weapon failed dismally amid enormous casualties. Despite this, two infantry brigades from the 4th Australian Division captured parts of the formidable Hindenberg Line with minimal artillery and tank support, repulsing German counterattacks until forced to withdraw. In the second battle, launched with a preliminary artillery barrage, more Australian divisions were forced into the Bullecourt 'meat-grinder' and casualties scored over 7,000. Once more, soldiers fought hard to capture parts of the enemy line and hold them against savage counterattacks. Bullecourt became a charnel-house for the AIF. Many who had endured the nightmare of Pozières considered Bullecourt far worse. And for what? While Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig considered its capture 'among the great achievements of the war', the village that cost so many lives held no strategic value whatsoever.

Bloody Bullecourt

Europe

Pen and Sword Military

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Books by Coombes, David