Media Release
Canberra – In a biography being launched today by UNSW Canberra, a renowned military historian offers an inside look at Australia’s top army general during one of its most controversial wars.
Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Daly was a renowned soldier and one of the most important and influential figures in Australia’s military history. As Chief of the General staff during the Vietnam War, he oversaw a significant reorganisation of the Army while fighting a war under political and resource restrictions. In A Soldier’s Soldier, Professor Jeffrey Grey reveals intimate insights into Daly’s preparations for the challenges of command in a time of great political upheaval.
“There are parallels between the challenges Daly faced in his day and those currently facing the Australian Defence Force as it draws down its mission in Afghanistan,” said Professor Grey. “The study of military history makes us wiser in current and future military encounters so it is fitting that this biography comes out now.”
Ten years in the making, A Soldier’s Soldier examines Daly’s career from his entry to Duntroon in the early 1930s until his retirement forty years later, covering the key issues in the development of the Australian Army along the way. This compelling portrait draws on extensive research and interview transcripts with Daly on all aspects of his distinguished career.
“Professor Grey’s latest book is another important contribution to our understanding of Australia’s military engagement,” said Professor Michael Frater, Rector of UNSW Canberra.
“UNSW Canberra’s expertise in military history is exemplified by the formation of the Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society, and we are privileged that an historian of the calibre of Professor Grey is leading this initiative.”
Lieutenant General David Morrison AO, Chief of Army, will officially launch A Soldier’s Soldier at an event hosted by Professor Frater today, Monday 19 November 2012.
Professor Jeffrey Grey, Director of the Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society at UNSW Canberra, is one of Australia’s best-known military historians. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books. A Soldier’s Soldier: A Biography of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Daly is published by Cambridge University Press as part of its Australian Army History Series.
