The 9th Australian Infantry Division was the most famous division raised in Australia during World War II. Its men won renown as Rats of Tobruk in the great siege of 1941 and gained praise in 1942 for their vital contribution to the battle of El Alamein, one of the turning points of the war.

The British overall commander in that battle, General Montgomery, singled out that magnificent 9th Australian division and even their German and Italian opponents acknowledged the division's prowess. In 1943 it entered the war with Japan in New Guinea, undertaking the largest Australian amphibious landings since Gallipoli. Hard jungle-fighting in the mountainous interior followed. In 1945 the division undertook two controversial and challenging campaigns in Borneo. This book covers the division's entire history, from its inauspicious origins through all its campaigns, in which it suffered more battle casualties than any other Australian division of World War II.