War Letters of General Monash

by Tony Macdougall

ISBN 1 876631 27 9

Publication date: April 2002

A new title in our Brief Lives series.

War Letters of General Monash is a personal account of WWI by Australia's greatest general, who was also probably the best general on the allied side on the Western Front. John Monash was only a reserve soldier (ie part-time) before the war, but as a civil engineer, he grasped earlier than most professional soldiers the necessity for meticulous planning and communication of one's plans in modern warfare.

The book contains stirring accounts of the withdrawal from Gallipolli, a two-hour meeting with King George of England in France, and what it felt like to manage tens of thousands of men. Last published in 1934, this edition is being edited by Tony McDougall.