A Soldier's Soldier
A Biography of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Daly

Examines the career of one of the most influential figures in Australia's military history.

Jeffrey Grey (Author)

9781107031272, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 October 2012

264 pages, 36 b/w illus. 7 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.56 kg

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Daly was a renowned soldier and one of the most influential figures in Australia's military history. As Chief of the General Staff during the Vietnam War, he oversaw a significant re-organisation of the Army as he fought a war under political and resource restrictions. In this unique biography, Jeffrey Grey shows how Daly prepared himself for the challenges of command in a time of great political upheaval. 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. Drawing on extensive interview transcripts, the book provides a compelling portrait of Sir Thomas Daly and his distinguished career.

Preface
1. Regimental soldiering
2. Balikpapan 1945
3. 'He could fill any appointment with distinction'
4. The challenges of senior rank
5. Chief of the General Staff
6. Daly, the Army, and the war in Vietnam 1966–71
7. The 'Civic Action Crisis' 1971
8. Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Vietnam War [HBWS2], Military history [HBW], Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]