Is it something in the air? There can be no arguing the fact that military history is the nonfiction flavour of the month at present. First, from HarperCollins in July came Tobruk, a history of the World War Two siege of Tobruk that tells the personal histories of the Australian soldiers who defended the fort for eight months. Written by journalist Peter Fitzsimons, the book also gives an overview of the action in Germany and Britain. Coming in August is the far more personal Somme Mud (Random House) an account by Edward Lynch of his experiences in the Somme at the end of the First World War. Written in the decade following that war, Somme Mud relates the day-to-day war experiences of Lynch, an infantryman who was only 18 when he enlisted. Excepts of the book have appeared in the RSL magazine Reveille, but August marks the first publication of the work in its entirety.

The Guns of Maschu (Don Dennis, Allen & Unwin) and The Last Man Standing (Peter Dornan, Allen & Unwin) are biographies of men who survived devastating battles in the Second World War; the first tells the story of the author’s uncle Mick Dennis and his role in a disastrous secret mission on the Japanese-held Muschu Island off the coast of New Guinea; the latter is the story of Herb Ashby, a survivor of the all-important Battle of El Alamein.

Vietnam: Australia’s Ten Year War 1962—1972 (Richard Pelvin, Hardie Grant) is a history of this more recent conflict, including a section on the protest movement and many photographs and other archive material; and, while it’s not entirely historical Modern Military Heroes (Narelle Biedermann, Random House) draws on Australia’s military past as well as featuring personal tales from military personnel involved in actions in Rwanda, East Timor and Afganistan.

Finally, in a different take on military history, Garrie Hutchinson has written Pilgrimage: A Traveller’s Guide to Australian Battlefields (Black Inc.). The record crowds that have flocked to Gallipoli for the Anzac Day dawn service in recent years suggest such a book might have a growing audience; if so, these readers will certainly appreciate Hatchinson’s comprehensive notes on Australian war sites from Anzac Cove to the Thai–Burma Railway. Part history, part travel guide, the guide includes maps, photographs and ‘Travel Tool Kit’ sections.