Professor Peter Stanley is one of Australia's foremost military and social historians. He is an Honorary Professor at UNSW Canberra and was formerly Research Professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Before joining UNSW, he was the inaugural head of the National Museum of Australia's Centre for Historical Research and spent twenty-seven years at the Australian War Memorial, where he served as Principal Historian.

Peter has written more than fifty books, spanning Australian military history, the world wars, British India, social history and historical fiction. His acclaimed book Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny, Murder and the Australian Imperial Force was joint winner of the 2011 Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History.

His work is distinguished by its focus on the human experience of war: not only battles and military institutions, but the lives of those who served, the families they left behind and the lasting consequences of conflict. He is also a frequent contributor to public and media discussions about Australia's military history.