This is the story of how an easy-going Sydney politician, with a reputation for enjoying the pleasures of the table and a fondness for cricket, became possessed by one enduring enthusiasm. That passion, maintained across almost two decades, was to make a new country from a collection of British colonies.
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.
Finally a concise, clear and informative history that puts Western Australia on the map. Lauded historian Geoffrey Bolton vividly narrates this long-awaited short history of Western Australia. From 1826 to the present, Land of Vision and Mirage covers the social, cultural, political and economic development of the most geographically isolated area in the world. While being both informative and analytical, the author’s wry observations about Western Australia’s unique history will stimulate public debate."--From the publisher.
This biography of Edmund Barton shows how the easy-going Sydney politician, with a reputation for enjoying the pleasures of the table and a fondness for cricket, became possessed by one enduring enthusiasm: to make a new country from a collection of British colonies.
Annotation. Sir Paul Hasluck was for almost two and a half decades one of Australia's most prominent politicians. Born in Fremantle in 1905 and educated at Perth Modern School and The University of Western Australia, Hasluck worked for The West Australian and lectured at The University of Western Australia before moving into politics in 1949. After two decades in politics, including a variety of ministerial responsibilities, Hasluck was appointed as the 17th Governor General of Australia in 1969. This biography includes Hasluck's experience working for the Department of External Affairs during the Second World War. It covers his career as a writer, poet, historian, and politician, providing a complete and enthralling portrait of one of Australia's great men.
Since 1861 the Supreme Court of Western Australia has served as the peak of the legal system, but it's history has never been attempted. Using a wide range of materials and illustrations this book tells the story.
There are thousands of Daphne streets all over Australia, and they all reflect a shared history, resonating with the life experiences of ordinary Australians making a society.
Increased dependence on the United States, an influx of European and Asian immigrants, and a series of economic booms and recessions have confronted postwar Australians with the challenge of surviving as an offshoot of European civilization in a largely Asian region and securing a prosperous future with declining support from European markets and investment. This final volume in the Oxford History of Australia shows that while some Australians have resisted the pressures for change, most have adapted to the task of creating a new nation able to survive into the 21st century.
Essays from some of Australia's leading historians showing how Australian history has been rewritten in the past twenty years to accommodate different notions of Australian identity.
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