Ted Serong was one of the most original and influential of the Australian Army's planners in the post-war period. He re-established the jungle training centre at Canungra in the 1950s and developed the Australian Army's doctrine of counter-insurgency warfare. Yet the extent of his achievements is little known in the country of his birth.

The programs he designed for Canungra ensured the success of Australian soldiers in Malaya and Vietnam. In 1957 he was invited to instruct the armed forces of Burma in jungle warfare technique and subsequently became the Burma Army's strategic adviser. From Rangoon his methods were noticed by the CIA, which arranged his recruitment to Vietnam as special adviser to the American military commander there.

In 1962 he led the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam to Saigon. On completion of that assignment, he continued with the CIA as an adviser to US Presidents Kennedy, Nixon and Ford. He remained in South Vietnam until the last desperate struggle against the communists in 1975. He was the last Australian to leave Saigon in thie helicopter evacution from the US Embassy. On his return to Australia, Serong maintained his vigilance regarding the nation's defence, and latterly became a figurehead for far right military movements.

This major new biography by Anne Blair explores the fascinating career of the Australian Army's most mysterious commander.