My Long War

Six deployments. Twenty-six years. A soldier’s account of Australia’s long wars.

For more than a quarter of a century, Major General Roger Noble stood at the centre of Australia’s contribution to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor. His career spans the evolution of Coalition warfare from the immediate aftermath of the Cold War to the brutal fight against ISIS.

As a 26-year-old captain, he helped destroy chemical weapons inside Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Decades later, he served as Deputy Commanding General of the Coalition Land Force responsible for the liberation of Mosul in 2016. Between those moments lay six operational deployments and a generation of continuous conflict.

My Long War is both a personal account and a strategic reckoning. Noble commanded at the tactical street corner of war, where split-second decisions carried life-or-death consequences. He later helped oversee large, complex multinational campaigns in which military action was inseparable from politics, diplomacy and media scrutiny.

He writes candidly about the realities of fighting among the people in remote and fractured societies. About the strain of command. About death, catastrophic injury and the enduring weight carried by those who serve. He addresses the most difficult questions head-on: insider attacks, allegations of misconduct, the ethics of targeting, and the constant effort to prevent civilian casualties while confronting adaptive and ruthless adversaries.

Beyond the battlefield, Noble exposes the day-to-day complexity of sustaining modern campaigns in a world connected in real time. Local grievances, tribal loyalties, international alliances and global narratives intersect with every patrol and every strike.

Above all, My Long War distils the critical lessons for Australia as a middle power that has now been deeply engaged in Coalition warfare for more than a generation. Noble argues that hard-won experience must inform future strategy, force design and political decision-making. Failure to learn is not an abstract risk. It carries consequences measured in national security and Australian lives.

Clear, direct and unsparing, this is an insider’s account of modern war and a call to ensure that sacrifice is matched by understanding.

‘The most authoritative Australian account of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.’

‘The hard lessons Australia cannot afford to forget.’

‘Courageous and uncompromising.’