The series consists of two volumes covering Australia's strategy and diplomacy in the war and the Australian military's combat operations respectively.

[3] The Australian Government maintained its tradition of granting independence to the official historian, though the Attorney-General's Department attempted to influence the series' treatment of the journalist and alleged traitor Wilfred Burchett.

[4] In contrast with the official Australian histories of the world wars, O'Neill included footnotes and bibliographies to identify his sources.

It provided a detailed account of Australia's foreign and defence policies before and during the war, including in-depth discussion of the evolution of the ANZUS Treaty.

[7] Peter Edwards, the editor of The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975, states that the first volume in the series has been of most importance to Australian historiography due to its "detailed and authoritative" coverage of the ANZUS treaty.