The memoirs of Australian war leaders have not enjoyed the commercial success gained by American and British commanders. Monash’s The Australian Victories in France in 1918 is possibly the only book of its sort which has ever had any real success. In the last few years the Australian Trenchard, Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, could not attract a commercial publisher for his autobiography, though it covered the entire creation of the RAAF. Public interest apart, the fact is that Australian generals, admirals and air marshals do not tend to be literary. We just cannot imagine an Australian Slim. The only classic works produced by any Australian connected with the armed forces and aviation in general have been P.G. (Sir Gordon) Taylor’s finely wrought books.

That it is possible, however, for talent to be concealed has been demonstrated by the appearance, at the author’s expense, of Air Vice-Marshal J.E. Hewitt’s Adversity in Success. Hewitt is not only a man of very great intelligence: he is well-read beyond his profession and has some feeling for style. Between 1939 and 1948 he kept diaries, extracts from which form the basis for this 324-page book. Many people would agree it might have been better had he used the diaries as a quarry for a completely new book. In default of that, this is a work of significance to the war historian if only for the lack of anything else like it. (If only Blarney had kept diaries!)