David Horner - The War Game: Australian war leadership from Gallipoli to Iraq

David Horner, AM, FASSA, is an emeritus professor in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, where he was Professor of Australia Defence History for fifteen years. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, he served as an infantry platoon commander in the Vietnam War and later, as a colonel, was head of the Australian Armys Land Warfare Studies Centre.

He is the author or editor of 37 books on Australian military history, defence and intelligence. As the Official Historian of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations, he was General Editor of the six-volume series. He was also the Official Historian of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the first volume of which, The Spy Catchers, was joint winner of the Prime Ministers Literary Award for history, and the UK Intelligence Book of the Year.

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Australias premier historian of war politics and strategy explains how Australia has found itself at war so often in its first century as a nation. Drawing on a lifetimes understanding of the inside story of decisions made behind closed doors, David Horner expertly reveals how decisions for war have been made. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why Australia has made that decisionover and over again.

Professor Peter Stanley, UNSW Canberra

To take the nation to war, apply lethal force in the name of the national interest, values, alliances and security is the hardest, most painful decision of all. Advice is offered by many, but the burden of responsibility is carried by onethe Prime Minister. The price of that judgement is borne in the quiet suffering and inconsolable grief of family homes. The War Game is compelling. This is not a game.

Dr Brendan Nelson AO, President Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, and a former Minister for Defence

This is a book of lessons for Australian political leaders on managing wars. An analysis of actual performance against those lessons is humbling. The books value lies in its being readily accessible with cautious recommendations.

The Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia, and a former Minister for Defence

A masterful study of Australian war leadership, by Australias preeminent military historian.

Professor Emerita Joan Beaumont, author of Broken Nation

Other books by David Horner

Crisis of Command (1978)

New Directions in Strategic Thinking (co-edited) (1981)

Australian Defence Policy for the 1980s (co-edited) (1982)

High Command (1982)

The Commanders (1984)

Australian Higher Command in the Vietnam War (1986)

SAS: Phantoms of the Jungle (1989)

Duty First (1990)

Reshaping the Australian Army (1991)

General Vaseys War (1992)

Strategic Studies in a Changing World (co-edited) (1992)

When the War Came to Australia (co-authored) (1992)

The Gulf Commitment (1992)

The Army and the Future (1993)

The Battles that Shaped Australia (1994)

The Gunners (1995)

Armies and Nation-Building (1995)

Inside the War Cabinet (1996)

Breaking the Codes (co-authored) (1998)

Blamey (1998)

Defence Supremo (2000)

Making the Australian Defence Force (2001)

The Second World War: The Pacific (2002)

SAS: Phantoms of War (2002)

Strategic Command (2005)

Australian Peacekeeping (co-edited) (2009)

In Action with the SAS (co-authored) (2009)

Australias Military History for Dummies (2010)

Australia and the New World Order (2011)

The Good International Citizen (co-authored) (2014)

The Spy Catchers (2014)

Gallipoli 100 (consultant editor) (2014)

The Limits of Peacekeeping (co-authored) (2019)

The Long Search for Peace (co-authored) (2020)

Strategy and Command (2021)

First published in 2022

Copyright 2022 David Horner

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

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ISBN 978 1 76106 595 8

eISBN 978 1 76106 473 9

Index by Puddingburn

Internal design by Julian Mole, Post Pre-press Group, Australia

Set by Post Pre-press Group, Australia

Cover design: Luke Causby/Blue Cork

Cover photograph: Standing on ammunition boxes, Australian prime ministerBilly Hughes addresses Australian soldiers near Amiens, France, on 2 July 1918,shortly before their successful attack at Hamel on 4 July. (AWM: E02533)