'There are lessons from Vietnam, from Gallipoli, from the fall of Singapore. And in many years to come, people will look back at everything we've done over the last 20 years and they'll be making judgements on what we did, and what we should have done - sins of commission, perhaps, sins of omission. And we've got to be careful to understand that it's not just what we do, it's what we fail to do which might also come back to be judged against us' - General Peter Cosgrove AC MC General Cosgrove's leadership of the Peacekeeping Force in East Timor saw him become the face of the Australian digger and our well-loved and best-known General since World War II. "Cos", as he was known among friends, was born to wear khaki. He followed his father and grandfather into the army, and, as a gung-ho 22-year-old soldier, won the Military Cross for bravery under fire in Vietnam during an assault on enemy positions. It was the start of a fascinating odyssey from cocky lieutenant to revered Commander-in-Chief. This is the untold and long awaited story of the man under the slouch hat. Acclaimed author Patrick Lindsay looks at the real Cos - the soldier, the diplomat and the man - through the eyes of those whose lives he touched, and reveals the journey to the top as the Chief of Australia's Defence Forces in one of the most turbulent periods in our history.
