Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Reading Colonialism and Indigenous Involvement in the Second World War
1. An Exception in the Equation? Donald Thomson and the NTSRU
2. Allies at War: De Facto Yolngu Soldiers
3. Black Skins, Black Work: Papuan and New Guinean Labor
4. Guerillas for the White Men: Formal Papuan and New Guinean Fighters
5. The Navajo Code Talkers: Warriors for the Settler Nation
6. When the War Was Over: Forgetting and (Re)membering the Code Talkers
Conclusion: The Soldier-Warrior in Modern War
Source Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

Reconsiders the impact of the largely forgotten contributions of indigenous soldiers in the Second World War

About the Author

Noah Riseman is a senior lecturer in history at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. This book is based on his dissertation, which won the 2009 C. E. W. Bean Prize for Military History.

Reviews

"A worthy contribution to comparative military history."—Alison R. Bernstein, Journal of American History "Defending Whose Country? is a welcome contribution to the existing body of literature and posits some interest questions in this understudied area of military history.""-Alexios Alecou, Army History "A fascinating study."-Jatinder Mann, Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies