Maestro John Monash

"A perfected modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score for an orchestral composition, where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases. Every individual unit must make its entry precisely at the proper moment and play its phrase in the general harmony." -- John Monash *** Who was the most innovative general of World War I? For author (and former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia) Tim Fischer*, the answer has to be Australia's John Monash, a man who, for all the recognition he received in his lifetime and after, has arguably not been given his proper due within the major military histories of the Great War. In this book, Fischer asks why John Monash was never promoted to Field Marshal, as international precedent suggested was most appropriate, pointing the finger primarily at Billy Hughes, the Australian prime minister from 1915 to 1923, within a wider context of establishment suspicion towards this son of a German Jewish migrant. The book demonstrates how a posthumous granting of the Field Marshal rank for John Monash now constitutes a due reward for this great servant of the Australian nation - a salutary reminder of his legacy. * [In 1971, at the age of 24, the Honorable Tim Fischer was elected to the New South Wales State Parliament, switching to the Federal Parliament in 1984 and was for 10 years Federal Leader of the Nationals, including serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister. Upon retirement from the Australian Parliament, he took up various philanthropic and corporate roles. From 2008 to 2012, Fischer was the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, based in Rome.] *** "Tim Fischer brings his army and political experience to the General Monash story with a flowing and digestible style." -- Professor Roland Perry *** "In his account of Monash's life and military career, Fischer details the many obstacles faced and surmounted by 'the most innovative general' of the war....Monash made concerted use of infantry, artillery, tanks, aircraft and radio in (to quote him) 'comprehensive holistic battle plan[s].' His strategy's success became evident in thwarting Germany's final westward push..." -- The NYMAS Review, StrategyPage, April 2015 (Series: Biography) [Subject: Biography, Military History, World War I, Australian Studies, Politics]