Introduction

The Australian Army has long participated in global conflicts in part due to being a colony in the British Empire and later as a member of the Commonwealth. Australia is not only a regional power in the South Pacific but as a partner of NATO it is often involved in conflicts outside of its close geographic area. This NATO partnership, as a contact country, follows its membership in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and the Australia, New Zealand and United States Security Treaty, or ANZUS Treaty.

Even though closely modeled after the British Army in structure, the Australian Army differs greatly in the weapons and equipment they operate. After WWII, British equipment like the L1A1 SLR rifle and Centurion tank were fielded but later equipment is a mix of global products modified for the rough Australian terrain and locally produced items like the Bushmaster and the M113AS4.

Review

The book, from the Men-at-Arms series, is a soft cover portrait format 48 in the standard Osprey size of about 7x10". Offering mostly color photographs with some artwork as well. The author, Leigh Neville, lives in Australia and has written several books on conventional and special operations forces.

The introduction, 'The Diggers' - A Brief History, gives a good summary of the Australian Army from inception to the present day. The subsequent chapters cover peacekeeping operations, which weren't always peaceful, and involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts:
The Long Peace -
- Small-scale peacekeeping and training deployments
- UNAMIC/UNTAC: Cambodia, 1991-93
- Operation 'Solace': Somalia, 1992-94
- Operation 'Tama': Rwanda, 1994-95
- Consequences of the 1994 Defence White Paper

Turning-Point: East Timor, 1999-2005
- Operations "Spitfire', 'Warden' & 'Stabilise'
- Contacts in 1999
- Consequences
- Operation 'Anode': Solomon Islands, 2003-05
- Operation 'Astute': Timor-Leste, since 2006

Afghanistan, 2001-2014
- Operation 'Slipper'
- Reconstruction
- The IED War
- 2008: 'Mentoring & Liaison' with the ANA
- Special Operations Task Group
- cost and recognition

Iraq, 2003-2008
- Contingencies: Operation 'Bastille'
- Operation 'Falconer'
- Operation 'Catalyst'

Operations Since 2014
- Operation 'Highroad', Afghanistan
- Operation 'Okra', Iraq

Current & Future Operational Structures
- Formations
- Units and equipment

Overall

It's good book on the Australian Army since Vietnam. As much detail as you could fit in a standard Osprey book covering 40 years. You'll find yourself making good use of the helpful abbreviations and acronyms table at the start of the book.I found the soldier pictures to very informative. There is less coverage of the vehicles during this time period but enough to stir the interest for more research.
The Plate Commentaries section at the end gives some great details on the figures in the color plates interspersed with some additional pictures of troops in varying dress and equipment. But the color plate drawings are certainly not the high point of the book.