Strategic Command tells the story of the most important and influential Australian Army officer in the second half of the twentieth century. For eight tumultuous years, firstly as Chief of the General Staff from 1963 to 1966, and then as Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee until 1970, General Sir John Wilton was responsible for the conduct of Australia's Vietnam War.

Wilton was the first Australian Army officer after Sir Thomas Blamey to be promoted to the rank of full general. He operated at the high strategic command level, dealing closely with Prime Ministers Robert Menzies, Harold Holt and John Gorton and with Defence Ministers Shane Paltridge, Allen Fairhall, and Malcolm Fraser.

Few Australian Army officers of his era knew as much about Asia as Wilton. Beginning with training in India and operations on the Burma-China border in the 1930s, he saw service in Syria, New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaya, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. This study, drawing on extensive research and the author's unrivalled understanding of the history of the Australian Army, explains how Wilton helped shape Australia's defence policies throughout the dangerous period of the Cold War.

To many, Wilton appeared as an unsmiling professional soldier. But privately he was a man of feeling and compassion. Although his three children vigorously opposed Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War, he accepted their right to express their views, while he did his duty as he saw it. In later years he fought for Aboriginal rights.

This major study of the development of Australian defence policy, command, organisation and strategy is essential reading for those seeking to understand current Australian defence issues. But primarily it is a human story, for strategic command is all about personalities and character. And the problems faced by Wilton at the civil-military interface - the challenges of dealing with politicians and senior bureaucrats while remaining true to the calling of the military professional - remain as relevant as ever.