In this book, a special edition of the journal Australian Historical Studies, essays by leading academic and freelance historians look at the newest trends in teaching and appreciating the past.

Winner of the 2022 Australian Political Book of the Year Award 'A drily elegant, bracing work from a pained and open heart' —Helen Garner 'Refreshing and original. A unique window on Australia's past and its barbed resonance today … Essential reading for anyone interested in the challenge of truth-telling.' —Mark McKenna 'A graceful, unostentatiously scholarly, wise (and highly readable) book on a subject of overwhelming and enduring significance for all Australians.' —Robert Manne The tal...

A fascinating and vibrant history of the New Zealand experience in the twentieth century.this is an accessible social history of life in New Zealand throughout the twentieth century, a time before most of us were born, as well as a period within which most of us have lived. Superbly researched and carefully chosen incidents and passages of history have been selected to tell our story, using diary entries, newspaper quotes, parliamentary records and a wide and diverse reading of the ...

How distinctive is South Australia after all? South Australia has often been represented as "different": free of convicts, more enlightened in its attitudes toward Aboriginal people, established on rational economic principles, and progressive in its social and political development. Some of this is true, some of it is not, but mostly the story is more complex. In this book, eminent historians explore these themes by examining some key "turning points" in South Australi...

In Made in England, David Malouf looks at Australia’s bond with Britain and wonders whether it wasn’t the Mother Country which did most of the giving. This is an essay which presents British civilisation, the civilisation of Shakespeare and the Enlightenment and the Westminster system, as the irreducible ground on which any Australian achievement is based. Britain has always been the tolerant parent, and an older Australia could be both intensely patriotic and see itself as what i...

Urban Nation: Australia's Planning Heritage provides the first national survey of the historical impact of urban planning and design on the Australian landscape. This ambitious account looks at every state and territory from the earliest days of European settlement to the present day. It identifies and documents hundreds of places - parks, public spaces, redeveloped precincts, neighbourhoods, suburbs up to whole towns - that contribute to the distinctive character of urban and suburban Austra...

The devastating earthquake that hit Christchurch in 2011 did more than rupture the surface of the city, argues historian Katie Pickles. It created a definitive endpoint to a history shaped by omission, by mythmaking, and by ideological storytelling.In this multi-layered BWB Text, Pickles uncovers what was lost that February day, drawing out the different threads of Christchurch’s colonial history and demonstrating why we should not attempt to knit them back together. This is an incisive an...

Unlike in Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere, urban history has never been sustained as a distinct field of scholarship in New Zealand. This is surprising, considering that since the early twentieth century most New Zealanders have lived in towns and cities 86 per cent were urban in 2014. Yet we know surprisingly little about these urban dwellers and the spaces in which they lived.'The pursuit of city life is one of the most important untold stories of New Zealand. The Big Smok...

Designed as an 'ideal city' and emblem of the nation, Canberra has long been a source of ambivalence for many Australians. In this charming and concise book, Nicholas Brown challenges these ideas and looks beyond the clichés to illuminate the unique, layered and often colourful history of Australia's capital. Brown covers Canberra's selection as the site of the national capital, the turbulent path of Walter Burley Griffin's plan for the city and the many phases of its construction. He surv...

Should Britain form a new union with its old 'Dominions' in Canada, Australia and New Zealand? Are they really our closest allies and relations? And is there any reason why they should want to unite again with us?Great Britain has just left one Union, after years of bitter argument and divisive posturing. But what if the island's future lies in another Union altogether, with some of its former colonial “kith and kin” across the seas? Why be in a Union with your imm...

Revealing the origins, stories, and sagas behind Australia's best-known, best-loved, and least-understood symbols, this collection explores the emergence, longevity, and prominence of 26 key symbols of Australia. From the stalwart brands of Vegemite and Holden cars to the natural and man-made landmarks of Uluru and the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Australia's unique indigenous flora and fauna, these commercial and community-based symbols are distinctive and highly recognizable—whether they are...

A Genealogy of Tropical Architecture traces the origins of tropical architecture to nineteenth century British colonial architectural knowledge and practices. It uncovers how systematic knowledge and practices on building and environmental technologies in the tropics were linked to military technologies, medical theories and sanitary practices, and were manifested in colonial building types such as military barracks, hospitals and housing. It also explores the various ways these c...