We found out the favourite 2025 books of 35 expert readers – and the Books & Ideas team shares our own picks, too.
- Research Fellow and Historian of War and Conflict, Deakin University
From the first world war to the invasion of Iraq, left-wing soldiers have questioned our involvement in wars. Yet we rarely hear these dissenting veteran’s voices.
Research indicates significant connections between military service and violent extremism. Though most go on to live peaceful lives, military members and veterans make up around 28% of mass shooters.
This harrowing account of institutional military abuse draws on interviews with nearly 70 survivors and analyses every review and inquiry into military culture (35 in total) since the Vietnam War.
The beginnings of Iraq’s sectarian civil war, the failures of its US-built political system, and the struggle for civilians attempting to survive chaos and violence are here in these 2004 interviews.
Soldier atrocities are shaped by our society, culture, and political fabric. Preventing them will require a comprehensive rethinking of policies, attitudes, and approaches to war.
Stretching back to the second world war, the term was used to encompass the well-being and safety of Australians, rather than the crude, vague threat from outsiders it implies today.
Since 1981, thousands of US veterans on “healing journeys” have been warmly welcomed by the Vietnamese.
Both Australia and Vietnam have claimed the Battle of Long Tan as a victory. The argument from Australian veterans that their 50th anniversary commemorations are apolitical falls flat.
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