John Laffin (1922–2000)

Author of Jackboot : the story of the German soldier

84 Works 1,202 Members 11 Reviews

About the Author

John Laffin (1922-2000) was an Australian military historian. In 1940 he enlisted in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force. After the war he wrote several books and novels. He travelled the Western Front extensively to research his work and wrote widely on the First World War. He died in Canberra in show more 2000. show less

Includes the name: John Laffin

Works by John Laffin

Popular Recent

Jackboot : the story of the German soldier (1965) 103 copies, 2 reviews

British Butchers and Bunglers of World War One (1988) 84 copies, 3 reviews

Brassey's dictionary of battles (1986) 74 copies, 2 reviews

The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars 1948-73 (1982) 67 copies

The Australian Army at War, 1899-1975 (1982) 67 copies

Codes and Ciphers Secret Writing Through the Ages (1964) 55 copies

Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars 1948-1973 (1982) 54 copies

Fight for the Falklands (1982) 46 copies

World War I In Postcards (1988) 44 copies, 1 review

The War of Desperation: Lebanon, 1982-85 (1985) 34 copies

On the Western Front (1985) 31 copies

Panorama of the Western Front (1993) 30 copies

The Western Front Companion 1914-1918: A-Z Source to the Battles, Weapons, People, Places and Air Combat (1994) 27 copies

The Western Front Illustrated: 1914-1918 (1991) 25 copies

Dagger of Islam (1979) 24 copies

Damn The Dardanelles (1980) 20 copies

Western Front 1916-1917: The Price of Honour (1987) 19 copies

Guide to Australian battlefields of the Western Front, 1916-1918 (1992) 19 copies, 1 review

Hitler Warned Us: The Nazis' Master Plan for a Master Race (1995) 19 copies

The Battle of Hamel: The Australians' finest victory (1999) 18 copies

Tommy Atkins (2004) 18 copies

Western Front 1917-18: The Cost of Victory (1988) 17 copies

Links of Leadership 30 Centuries of Military Command (1966) 17 copies

Raiders - Great Exploits of the Second World War (1999) 16 copies

Arab Mind: A Need for Understanding (1975) 13 copies

High command: The genius of generalship from antiquity to Alamein (1995) 12 copies

British VCs of World War II (1997) 12 copies

Brassey's Book of Espionage (1996) 12 copies

Greece, Crete and Syria (1989) 11 copies

The Man the Nazis Couldn't Catch (1984) 11 copies

We will remember them : Australian epitaphs of World War I (1996) 10 copies

Battlefield archaeology (1987) 9 copies

Digger : the story of the Australian soldier (1986) 9 copies

Anzacs at war (1982) 8 copies, 1 review

Combat Surgeons (1999) 8 copies

Special and Secret (1990) 8 copies

The French Foreign Legion (1974) 7 copies

The Agony of Gallipoli (2005) 7 copies

Gallipoli (1999) 6 copies

The Arabs as master slavers (1982) 6 copies

Swifter than eagles : the biography of Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir John Maitland Salmond, G.C.B., C.M.G.,… (1964) 6 copies

The face of war; the evolution of weapons and tactics and their use in ten famous battles (1963) 6 copies

The P.L.O. connections (1982) 6 copies

Holy War: Islam Fights (1988) 6 copies

Women in battle (1967) 5 copies

Jack Tar: Story of the British Sailor (1969) 4 copies

Middle East Journey (1958) 4 copies

The World in Conflict: War Annual 6 : Contemporary Warfare Described and Analysed (No.6) (1994) 4 copies

Diccionario de batallas (2001) 4 copies

Digging up the Diggers' war: Australian battlefield archaeology (1993) 4 copies

The World in Conflict, 1991: War Annual 5 : Contemporary Warfare Described and Analyzed (No. 5) (1991) 4 copies

War Annual 1 (No. 1) (1986) 4 copies

War Annual 2: A Guide to Contemporary Wars and Conflicts (World in Conflict) (1987) 4 copies

Forever forward : the story of the 2/31st Infantry Battalion, 2nd AIF, 1940-45 (1994) 3 copies

Return to glory (1956) 3 copies

Aussie Guide to Britain (1995) 3 copies, 1 review

Rhetoric and reality : the Arab mind considered (1978) 3 copies

Americans in Battle (1973) 3 copies

Know the Middle East (1985) 3 copies

The World in Conflict: War Annual 7 : Contemporary Warfare Described and Analysed (No.7) (1996) 3 copies

The World in Conflict: War Annual 8 - Contemporary Warfare Described and Analysed (1997) 3 copies

The World in Conflict 1990: Contemporary Warfare Described and Analysed (War Annual) (1990) 3 copies

Scotland the brave : the story of the Scottish soldier (1974) 3 copies

Fedayeen: Arab-Israeli Dilemma (1973) 3 copies

L'esercito israeliano nelle guerre in medio oriente 1948-73/Gli eserciti arabi delle guerre in medio oriente 1948-73 (2000) 2 copies

Surgeons in the field (1970) 2 copies

Israeli Mind (1979) 2 copies

The hunger to come (1971) 2 copies

The Somme (1999) 2 copies

Hillingdon Village in Old Photographs (1996) 2 copies

British Campaign Medals (1964) 2 copies

The Arab mind from Arab sources (1987) 2 copies

A Kind of Immortality - an Autobiography Volume One (2000) 2 copies

Letters from the front, 1914-1918; (1973) 2 copies

The World in Conflict 1989: War Annual Three (1988) 2 copies

Kokoda Trail 1 copy

Na tyłach wroga : oddziały do zadań specjalnych w II wojnie światowej (2000) 1 copy

Petit code des codes secrets: codes et chiffres 1 copy

The Arab mind considered: A need for understanding (1975) 1 copy

Murder in Paradise 1 copy

The Australian Army at war. ANZAC Sergeant : London, 1918 1 copy

The Secrets of Leadership: Twenty Centuries of Command 1 copy

Fedayeen; the Arab-Israeli dilemma 1 copy

Códigos y cifras los mensajes secretos y su historia (1976) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Tagged

20th century (7) army (10) Australia (16) Australian (13) Australian Army (8) Australian history (6) Australian Military History (5) Australians at War (10) Australians at War - series (5) battles (4) codes (6) Creemore War library (6) Falklands (6) Falklands War (6) German History (9) Germany (9) history (90) History-British (5) Islam (10) Israel (11) Loc 2 (5) MAA (6) Middle East (25) military (41) military history (67) NF (5) non-fiction (41) Osprey (21) Osprey Men at Arms (7) Osprey Men at Arms Series (5) post-WWII (7) postcards (7) reference (7) to-read (4) Uniforms (7) war (25) warfare (8) Western Front (20) WWI (114) WWII (33)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1922-09-21
Date of death: 2000-09-23
Gender: male
Nationality: Australia
Birthplace: Mosman, New South Wales, Australia
Place of death: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Places of residence: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Herstmonceaux, East Sussex, England, UK
Occupations: journalist
military historian
Organizations: Australian Army (WWII)

Members

Reviews

British Butchers and Bunglers of World War One by John Laffin

Useful for teaching historiography of WWI, especially when put up beside the work of more traditional academics. A book to be nibbled on, but one should not swallow it whole

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JJPCIII | 2 other reviews | Nov 28, 2022 |

British Butchers & Bunglers of World War One by John Laffin

A damning indictment of British generalship in WWI. Douglas Haig comes in for the most criticism. The level of appalling disconnectedness and callous disregard for immense casualties in the prosecution of a pointless and stupid war is deservedly called out. The cover ups and blame shifting are worthy of the worst Corporate politics of today - only the victims were not employees but the poor common soldiers. Anyone thinking the Laffin is too hard on Haig need only remember the 20,000 dead on the first day of the Somme or the whole Passchendaele debacle from end to end. There was simply no excuse for what Haig and the other high ups allowed to happen to millions of British and Empire troops.… (more)

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SPQR2755 | 2 other reviews | Dec 14, 2021 |