Description
Book SynopsisFrom 1942-1945 the Allies' war in the Southwest Pacific was effectively a bilateral coalition between the United States and Australia under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. By charting the evolution of the military effectiveness of the US-Australian alliance,
MacArthur's Coalition puts the relationship between the US and Australia at the centre of the war against Japan.
Trade ReviewMacArthur’s Coalition contains new insights into the military-to-military relationship between the United States and Australia during the Second World War. The author carefully examines the coalition from its ad hoc origins to its high point of cooperation and (sometimes) mutual respect in 1942–1943, into its decline in 1944–1945."" - Peter Williams, author of
The Kokoda Campaign 1942: Myth and Reality""Drawing upon a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Dean explores the long-neglected topic of Australian-American military cooperation during World War II. This highly original and superb book has much to say not only about how military strategy was created and executed but also about the important topic of alliance politics under the pressures of wartime conditions."" - Kevin C. Holzimmer, author of
General Walter Krueger: Unsung Hero of the Pacific War""Peter Dean’s standout study of coalition warfare in the Southwest Pacific provides intriguing new perspectives on Australia's outsize contributions to MacArthur’s campaigns. Dean’s fascinating multilevel analysis, anchored in extensive research across multiple archives, emphasizes the critical interplay of personalities from strategic through tactical echelons as well as the importance of intercultural communications as allies adapted to differing command cultures and military doctrines. This fresh reassessment of coalition leadership depicts MacArthur and his cohorts in the sweeping fashion they deserve."" - Edward J. Drea, author of
Japan’s Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall, 1853–1945""
MacArthur’s Coalition provides a deeply researched, innovative, and authoritative study of how the United States and Australia fought together to achieve victory in the Second World War. The book holds important lessons for the conduct of present-day coalition operations—a key feature of modern warfare."" - David Horner, emeritus professor, Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University
""
MacArthur’s Coalition is a superb work enormously extending our understanding of that controversial figure and those who served with him. It is deeply researched, vigorously narrated, and admirably evenhanded. It casts brilliant illumination over the full span of relationships from MacArthur and the heights of Australian political and military leadership down to the sharp edge where Australians and Americans confronted a formidable enemy."" - Richard B. Frank, author of
Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
