Bitter Ocean by David White

David White's meticulously researched and brilliantly told account of the Battle of the Atlantic is the first to assess this crucial theatre of the Second World War from the viewpoint of all the protagonists: Germany, USSR, USA, Canada and, above all, the UK.

Packed with first-hand testimony from seamen and submariners, White shows the real hardships faced. He also shows how the U-boat threat was countered and eventually defeated, ensuring the survival of Great Britain and thus the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The Royal Navy's triumph undoubtedly changed the course of history.1948:

Hassett: Australian Leader by John Essex-Clark, DSM
A Biography of General Sir Francis Hassett

This is the story of a great Australian who joined the Army as a boy, trained at Duntroon, and started his fighting with an infantry battalion in the Libyan Desert in World War 11. He served in Palestine, Syria, New Guinea and Bougainville.

He later led 3RAR with distinction, at the Battle of Maryang San in Korea and rose through 40 years of soldiering to command the defence force of Australia.

He was the most decorated soldier in the Australian Army, earning five post nominal honours.

The personal traits and capabilities that made Hassett such a memorable soldier-leader, and the influence of his family and friends, form part of this biography.

This is a story for all who wish to understand leadership under great physical and intellectual pressure.

Author and ex-infantryman, Brigadier John Essex-Clark, DSM (retd) served in the Rhodesian Army before joining the Australian Army in 1963.

He saw service in Central Africa, Malaysia and Vietnam where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for leadership in action. He currently lives in Canberra.

Blue Man Falling by Frank Barnard

It is September 1939 and war is declared. Europe holds its breath. When will the Third Reich strike west across France and the Low Countries? For RAF fighter pilots patrolling the Franco-German border it is a bizarre time: one moment they are chasing an elusive Luftwaffe, the next ordering champagne in Paris. Then, in May 1940, Hitler launches Blitzkrieg and the Hurricane squadrons find themselves engulfed in battle.

From the cockpit of a Hurricane fighter plane to the louche salons of Parisian society, Blue Man Falling follows the fortunes of two RAF pilots, an Englishman, Kit Curtis, and an American, Ossie Wolf, during the Battle of France 1939-40.

Capturing the startling contradictions of a time when people were at their best and their worst, it brings to life the exhilaration and fear of aerial warfare with astonishing power and narrative skill.

Above all, it lays bare the meaning of war, and the selflessness of those prepared to fight until the end.

Air Force History
Contemporary Issues
Fiction
Korean War
RAR History
Vietnam War
World War I
World War II