David Wilson The Brotherhood of Airmen: The Men and Women of the RAAF in Action 1914-Today.

David Wilson The Brotherhood of Airmen: The Men and Women of the RAAF in Action 1914-Today, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2005, ISBN 1 74114 333 0, pb, 242 pp, 33 photographs.

David Wilson has written widely in the field of RAAF history. His latest offering is an operational history of the RAAF from its beginnings at Point Cook to the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although much of the RAAF's history is well known from the official histories and other general histories of the Air Force, Dr Wilson includes many lesser known stories. He does not ignore peacetime operations and provides interesting details of lesser known events such as the Berlin airlift, the operation of Vampires from Malta in the 1950s and the use of the RAAF in the airline pilots' strike in 1989.

Dr Wilson has deliberately eschewed discussion of some of the more controversial incidents in the Air Force's history, such as the Williams-Goble and Bostock-Jones disputes, preferring to concentrate on the middle level leadership and rank and file which he regards as the backbone of the service.

As a former head of the RAAF Historical Records Section, Dr Wilson is well suited to provide such an overview and he has not disappointed. Brotherhood of Airmen is a useful introduction to the RAAF's history and a handy ready reference.

He could, however, have been better served by his publishers. The publishing standards are not up to those normally associated with Allen and Unwin publications, especially the quality of the paper. The editing is also not up to scratch and there are numerous minor text errors, not least when operations over Rabaul are transferred textually to Lae. The photographs are well produced but are not presented in chronological order. Some maps would have been helpful.

But this should not deter the reader from a well written, informative account of the history of the RAAF.