Granville Allen Mawer, a former senior public servant in Australia, is a historian who has specialized in military, maritime and exploration history. His previous publications include Most Perfectly Safe: The Convict Shipwreck Disasters of 1833-42, Ahab's Trade: The Saga of South Seas Whaling, South by Northwest: The Magnetic Crusade and the Contest for Antarctica, Diary of a Spitfire Pilot, Incognita: The Invention and Discovery of Terra Australis, A Voyage to New Holland and Round the World, and South Sea Argonaut: James Colnett and the Enlargement of the Pacific.
"a very fine piece of work, a thoughtful but lively essay on what such an award is really all about. It should appeal to anyone interested in military values.-- ""Naval Historical Foundation"""