Street atlas, Berkshire Book

The military famously has its own language. Not Only In Unsayable Pointless Acronyms (NOIUPA) but the terminology of equipment and structures. As someone who originally studied Australian foreign policy but has now moved into the military space, I've spent years trying to obscure my inadequacy at this lingo.

This book, at least for the Australian case of the last half century is the book I have been looking for. The authoritative history of how the three Australian services (Army, Airforce, Navy) became the Australian Defence Force in 1976. Horner details not only their merger, but the nature of their roles as domain-specific combat forces (ie how they fight and think about fighting). He also includes useful chapters exploring the ways the defence organisation and strategic policy shape the forces and how the 'back end' efforts sustain them via logistics, personnel and support.

Making the Australian Defence Force should be on the shelf of every politician at the federal level. And ideally on as many citizens shelves as possible too. It is not the last word, but certainly one of the most definitive on what Australia's armed forces are for, how they operate, and what they can do. With the strategic storm clouds darkening, this is a vital guidebook for a language we will all need to be able to better interpret in the years ahead.