Official histories: First World War
The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australia’s involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by the official historian Charles Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942. The books, with their familiar covers, “the colour of dried blood” in the words of one reviewer, rapidly became highly regarded internationally. Bean’s work established the tradition and set the standard for all subsequent Australian official war histories.
- Introduction by Dr Peter Stanley, Historian
- Copyright statement
Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918
- Preface by Professor Robert O’Neill. This preface was written for the University of Queensland Press editions which were published in the 1980s and is applicable to all volumes.
- Volume I – The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)
- Volume II – The Story of ANZAC from 4 May, 1915, to the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula (11th edition, 1941)
- Volume III – The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1916 (12th edition, 1941)
- Volume IV – The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1917 (11th edition, 1941)
- Volume V – The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Main German Offensive, 1918 (8th edition, 1941)
- Volume VI – The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Allied Offensive, 1918 (1st edition, 1942)
- Volume VII – The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918 (10th edition, 1941)
- Volume VIII – The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914–1918 (11th edition, 1941)
- Volume IX – The Royal Australian Navy, 1914–1918 (9th edition, 1941)
- Volume X – The Australians at Rabaul. The Capture and Administration of the German Possessions in the Southern Pacific (10th edition, 1941)
- Volume XI – Australia During the War (7th edition, 1941)
- Photographic record of the war, vol. XII was not included in this project, as all the original images are available on-line.
Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services, 1914–1918
- Volume I – Gallipoli, Palestine and New Guinea (2nd edition, 1938)
- Volume II – The Western Front (1st edition, 1940)
- Volume III – Special Problems and Services (1st edition, 1943)
Supplementary material
Bean working on files during the writing of the First World War official history.
AWM A05389
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