author

Hubert Foster

b. 1855

A soldier-scholar with a strong interest in military organization, he wrote practical works on war, empire, and strategy while building a career that stretched from Britain to Australia.

1 Audiobook

About the author

Hubert John Foster (born October 4, 1855, in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire) was a British army officer who later served in Australia. Reliable biographical sources identify him primarily as a senior military figure rather than a literary author, but he also wrote books and manuals connected to military science and imperial affairs.

He was educated at Harrow and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he earned major distinctions before being commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1875. Over the course of his career he served in places including Egypt, Ireland, Canada, and Washington, and later became director of military science at the University of Sydney.

Foster is associated with works such as Organization: How Armies Are Formed for War and a handbook on British East Africa. He went on to serve as Chief of the Australian General Staff during World War I, and he died in Cooma, New South Wales, on March 21, 1919.