Australia is the last continent to be settled by Europeans, but it also sustains a people and a culture tens of thousands years old. For much of the past 200 years the newcomers have sought to replace the old with the new. This book tells how they imposed themselves on the land, and brought technology, institutions and ideas to make it their own. It relates the advance from penal colony to a prosperous free nation and illustrates how, as a nation created by waves of newcomers, the search for binding traditions was long frustrated by the feeling of rootlessness, until it came to terms with its origins. The third edition of this acclaimed book recounts the key factors - social, economic and political - that have shaped modern-day Australia. It covers the rise and fall of the Howard government, the 2007 election and the apology to the stolen generation. More than ever before, Australians draw on the past to understand their future.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; 1. Beginnings; 2. Newcomers, c. 1600-1792; 3. Coercion, 1793-1821; 4. Emancipation, 1822-1850; 5. In thrall to progress, 1851-1888; 6. National reconstruction, 1889-1913; 7. Sacrifice, 1914-1945; 8. Golden age, 1946-1974; 9. Reinventing Australia, 1975-2008; 10. What next?; Sources of quotations; Guide to further reading; Index.

About the Author

Stuart Macintyre is the Ernest Scott Professor of History at the University of Melbourne.

Reviews

When you think about it, we've a tradition of Australian history being written by experts not light on strong opinions or idiosyncratic forms of expression - Russell Ward, C E W Bean, Geoffrey Blainey, Robert Hughes, and, of course, the inimitable Manning Clark. I've nevertheless always felt frustrated as a bookseller when asked to recommend a `good Australian history' for the general reader or tourist. Until now, that is. Stuart Macintyre's A Concise History of Australia, published in the `Cambridge Concise Histories' series, meets that need and more. It's a lively, intelligent, opinionated and very well written one-volume history, traversing some well-covered territory of colonial and 20th-century Australia with a fresh eye that doesn't fail to observe the big and small picture. Macintyre's interest in political history means that the machinations of class and power in both centuries get healthy mention, but he doesn't neglect cultural, sporting or other references. Most significantly, with an eye to our history being written by the winners, and to the significance of our times, he has repositioned the place of Aboriginal Australians in our history. This is a valuable and timely publication, sure to provoke response. David Gaunt is co-owner of Gleebooks, Glebe (NSW). C. 1999 Thorpe-Bowker and contributors

'At long last here is an accessible, sensible, learned and digestible history of Australia. It is a triumph of Stuart Macintyre's notable scholarship that he has come up with a book that is concise - not brief, not abbreviated - sharp and to the point ... this is a tremendously useful tool for locals and outsiders. It should sit on every Australian's bookshelf, next to the dictionary and the atlas.' Nick Richardson, Herald-Sun 'It's a splendid piece of work and it belongs to a noble tradition ... It conveys throughout a joy in writing history, in mastering the detail of the past - a joy especially in struggling with the soul of the country.' Alan Atkinson, Sydney Morning Herald 'Macintyre's book is the best short history of Australia since Manning Clark's classic of 1963.' Times Literary Supplement