A selection of speeches and articles written for major daily newspapers between 1981 and 1991, by the prominent Australian historian. Topics include politics, international relations, academia and immigration.
The peace that passeth understanding -- Paradise is a bazaar -- Dreams and delusions of a coming war -- While waterbirds fight -- Death-watch and scapegoat wars -- War chests and pulse beats -- A calendar of war -- The abacus of power -- War as an accident -- Aims and arms -- A day that lives in infamy -- Vendetta of the Black Sea -- Long wars -- And shorter wars -- The mystery of wide wars -- Australia's Pacific war -- Myths of the nuclear era -- War, peace and neutrality.
Now in his late-eighties, and listed by the National Trust as a 'Living Treasure', in Before I Forget Geoffrey Blainey reflects on his humble beginnings as the son of a Methodist Minister and school teacher, one of five children, and a carefree childhood spent in rural Victoria, from Terang to Leongatha, Geelong to Ballarat. From a young age these places ignited for Blainey a great affection for the Australian landscape, and a deep curiosity in Australia's history. He longed to travel, and would climb atop the roof of their home to stare out at the Great Dividing Range and imagine the world beyond. His mother created gardens wherever they went and had literary ambitions of her own; his father spent more on books than he could ever afford, and the library travelled with the family. Blainey's devotion to the Geelong Football Club began in Newtown from where he'd watch his team play at Corio, and as a newsboy he developed an early interest in current affairs, following the dramas and triumphs of the Second World War and the political careers of local identities John Curtin and Robert Menzies. With a burning desire to see Sydney but barely a penny to his name, he hitched there with a schoolfriend to see the harbour that greeted the First Fleet, and visited the national theatre of Parliament House on the way home to see Billy Hughes, JT Lang, Arty Fadden, Arthur Calwell, Enid Lyons and hero Ben Chifley in action. The course of Blainey's life changed when he was awarded a scholarship to board at Wesley College in Melbourne - an opportunity that instilled in him a great love of learning, under the tutelage of a group of inspiring teachers. This flourished further at the University of Melbourne, first as a wide-eyed student at Queen's Collage, where he was lectured by Manning Clarke, and later as a professor of history. Later he and Manning Clarke became great friends, both sitting on the Whitlam Government's new Literature Board. Hours spent at Melbourne's State Library as a student poring over the country's old newspapers cemented his calling to become a professional historian. Like Clarke Blainey has always been compelled to visit the places of our historical interest, including places of archaeological and Indigenous significance. Now the author of over forty books, Geoffrey Blainey claims he has discovered Australia's history his own way - and is still learning. Warm, insightful and lyrically written, Before I Forget recounts the experiences and influences that have shaped the astonishing mind of Australia's most loved historian. But in this book Blainey has given us something more - a fascinating and affectionate social history in and of itself.
An argument for the existence of a mental see saw which in the last 250 years has affected a wide range of human attitudes and activities. The author argues that the present economic crisis has close links with the seesaw, though the seesaw itself helps to explain events that seem unconnected.
In Volume II of The Story of Australia's People, Geoffrey Blainey continues his account of the history of this country from the early Gold Rush to the present day, completing the story of our nation and its people. When Europeans crossed the world to plant a new society in an unknown land, traditional life for Australia's first inhabitants changed forever. For the new arrivals, Australia was a land that rewarded, tricked, tantalised and often defeated. From the Gold Rush to Land Rights and the Digital Age, Blainey brings to life the key events of more recent times that have shaped us into the nation and people we are today. Compelling, groundbreaking and brilliantly readable, The Story of Australia's People Volume II is the second instalment of an ambitious two-part work, and the culmination of the lifework of Australia's most prolific and wide-ranging historian.
For two thousand years, Christianity has had a varying but immense influence on world history. Accomplished historian Geoffrey Blainey leads us through the history of this world-changing religion. A Short History of Christianity vividly describes many of the significant players in the religion’s rise and fall through the ages, from Jesus himself to Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Francis Xavier, John Wesley, and even the Beatles, who claimed to be “more popular than Jesus.” Blainey takes us into the world of Christian worshipers through the ages—from housewives to stonemasons—and traces the rise of the critics of Christ and his followers. Eminently readable, and written with Blainey’s characteristic curiosity and storytelling skill, this book often places Christianity at the center of world history. Will it remain near the center? Blainey’s narrative illustrates that Christianity’s history is a much-repeated story of ups and downs.
Following the success of his A Short History of the World, eminent historian Geoffrey Blainey abridged his account of the grand adventure of human history to create an even more accessible version of his absorbing work. A Short History of the World traces the story of the world's people during the last four million years, beginning before the human race moved out of Africa to explore and settle other continents. A consummate storyteller, Professor Blainey makes the past come alive as he touches on the trivial and the grand: everything changes in diet to profound discoveries and mighty empires. This updated edition of Blainey's work contains engrossing summaries about global terrorism, the rise of China and how technology is reshaping our lives. 'Our most distinguished historian.' Weekend Australian
First published in 1984, this new edition includes an extra chapter. It traces the history of Victoria from the arrival of the Aborigines to the demise of the Cain government, and examines its position in Australian history. Includes an extensive bibliography and an index. By the author of TThe Tyranny of Distance'.
A broad, and concise vision of Australia and Australians. For this edition Blainey has rewritten or expanded on various episodes and themes, making changes to almost every page. A final chapter summarises key factors that shaped, and still shape, this country's history.
Today Australian Rules football is a multi - million - dollar business' with superstar players' high - profile presidents and enough scandals to fill a soap opera. The game has changed beyond recognition - or has it? In A Game of Our Own' esteemed historian Geoffrey Blainey documents the birth of our great national game. Who were the characters and champions of the early days of Australian football? How was the VFL formed? Why was the umpire's job so difficult? Blainey takes a sceptical look at the idea that the game had its origins in Ireland or in Aboriginal pastimes. Instead he demonstrates that footy was a series of inventions. The game played in 1880 was very different to that of 1860' just as the game played today is different again. Journey back to an era when the ground was not oval' when captains acted as umpires' when players wore caps and jerseys bearing forgotten colours and kicked a round ball that soon lost its shape. A Game of Our Own is a fascinating social history and a compulsory read for all true fans of the game.
This new book from celebrated historian Geoffrey Blainey takes us on an incredible global journey through a tempestuous hundred years. His eye for detail and evocative style bring to vivid life many of the events that marked the 20th century: two world wars, the rise and fall of communist states, the worst economic slump in the world's history, the decline of European monarchies and empires, the ascent of the first female prime ministers, the resurgence of Asia, and the exploration of outer space. Yet it is not only through such grand markers that we come to know and understand our history. As ever, Blainey brings the past alive by recording the minutiae of daily life - nine - year - old mothers with puny babies, the whiff of chaff and manure, the bustle of crowded cities. It brilliantly evokes the excitement of the times, the triumphs and the tragedies of perhaps the most significant century of all.
In the bestselling Black Kettle and Full Moon, master storyteller Geoffrey Blainey takes us on another absorbing journey – a guided tour of a vanished Australia. Covering the years from the first gold rush to World War I. Blainey paints a fascinating picture of how our forebears lived – in the outback, in towns and cities, at sea and on land. He looks at all aspects of daily life, from billycans to brass bands, from ice-making to etiquette, from pipes to pubs. The engaging text is further brought alive by an evocative selection of contemporary illustrations by artists such as Julian Ashton.This is Geoffrey Blainey doing what he does best bringing to life for the modern reader the sighs and sounds and smells of another time.
In 1768 Captain James Cook and his crew set out on a small British naval vessel in search of a missing continent. 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of that voyage, and Cook's 'discovery' of Australia. Captain Cook's Epic Voyage reveals the hardships and adventure of this remarkable quest, and the euphoria of discovering new lands. Drawing from his previous book, Sea of Dangers, in Captain Cook's Epic Voyage Professor Geoffrey Blainey takes readers once again on a vivid journey through history, challenging accepted views and the intersection of myth, science and exploration.
Australia's renowned historian Professor Geoffrey Blainey makes the past come alive in this sweeping history of the world. With an emphasis on the everyday life of different eras, this is a grand adventure story that will fill you with wonder at the richness of human history.
It is time to reassess the work of Geoffrey Blainey, and consider his role in Australian history, politics and public life. Geoffrey Blainey has steered Australian history into the nation’s conversation. No one would dispute that he is a courageous public intellectual, a writer of rare grace and a master storyteller. And he has indeed provoked a rare fuss, both public and professional, with some of his comments on Asian immigration and Aboriginal land rights. Blainey has challenged the academic history profession, not only with his ideas but also by his practice. A brilliant student, he looked set for Oxford but chose instead the austere west coast of Tasmania for his postgraduate research. For the next decade he earned a living with his pen. And instead of political history in the traditional academic mould, he wrote corporate histories that dispensed with footnotes. Always probing and speculative, Blainey has dislodged many of the keystones in our understandings of Australia’s past. He was one of the first to write about the expansive social history of this land before 1788; he questioned whether Botany Bay was founded primarily as a convict colony; he argued that the Eureka uprising had economic rather than political causes; and he identified sport as a neglected key to the Australian character. His controversial views earned such newspaper headlines as ‘Brave Man Set Upon by Thugs for Telling Truth’. In The Fuss That Never Ended a lively and distinguished assembly of fellow historians—of various ages, interests and political stances—take a fresh look at Blainey’s remarkable and sometimes controversial career.
The vast continent of Australia was settled in two main streams, far apart in time and origin. The first came ashore some 50,000 years ago when the islands of Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were one. The second began to arrive from Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. Each had to come to terms with the land they found, and each had to make sense of the other. The long Aboriginal occupation of Australia witnessed spectacular changes. The rising of the seas isolated the continent and preserved a nomadic way of life, while agriculture was revolutionising other parts of the world. Over millennia, the Aboriginal people mastered the land's climates, seasons and resources. Traditional Aboriginal life came under threat the moment Europeans crossed the world to plant a new society in an unknown land. That land in turn rewarded, tricked, tantalised and often defeated the new arrivals. The meeting of the two cultures is one of the most difficult and complex meetings in recorded history. In this book Professor Geoffrey Blainey returns first to the subject of his celebrated works on Australian history, Triumph of the Nomads (1975) and A Land Half Won (1980), retelling the story of our history up until 1850 in light of the latest research. He has changed his view about vital aspects of the Indigenous and early British history of this land, and looked at other aspects for the first time. Compelling, groundbreaking and brilliantly readable, The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia is the first instalment of an ambitious two-part work, and the culmination of the lifework of Australia's most prolific and wide-ranging historian. 'Absorbing and important ... the first volume of an ambitious work on the peopling of this continent from its human origins to our own day...bold, rich, wise, authioritative and questioning.' Peter Stanley, The Age 'The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia situates pre-invasion Aboriginal society as a triumphant culture with much to celebrate.' John Maynard, The Age 'Blainey has produced a book that all Australians could and, dare I say it, should read . . . I very much look forward to the next instalment of his bold, rich, wise, wry, authoritative and questioning trilogy.' Canberra Times 'This is the real story of Australia, at last.' Courier Mail 'Blainey delivers a brilliant narrative on Australia's settlement.' Australian Geographic
History of Australia's most productive goldfield, Kalgoorlie, which has been worked continuously for 100 years. Written to mark this centenary, the book describes the discoveries, mines and companies involved, including Great Boulder and Golden Horseshoe. Also discusses feats of engineering such as the goldfield's water scheme. Includes sources of information and an index. The author is a well-known historian whose other publictions include TThe Rush That Never Ended' and 'The Peaks of Lyell'.
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