The Shortest History Of Australia (from First Nations Origins To Thriving, Multicultural Nation-state?a Continent Of Epic Beauty's Singular Past)

By (author) McKenna Mark
Short description/annotation:
From one of Australia’s leading historians, the compelling story of a singular nation still realizing its independence and influence on the global stage
Description:
As a land associated with extremes—from remote desert terrain to some of the world’s deadliest creatures—few countries feel as geographically and culturally independent as Australia. While pop-culture references to endless summers proliferate, it’s the lesser-acknowledged eras of Australian history that contribute to a complex and still-evolving definition of nationhood: settlements and expansions, indigenous rights movements, and contemporary environmental challenges among them. Sharp and of-the-moment, The Shortest History of Australia reveals surprising nuances in the familiar national narrative. Historian and professor Mark McKenna’s concise, compelling account paints a portrait of a country still learning the extent of its political independence, reckoning with its past, and looking toward an ever-shifting future of politics, identity, and influence.
Table of contents:
The Founding Lie From Ubirr The Island Dilemma Taking the Land War and Memory Fire and Water Fault Lines Homelands Facing North ‘The Big Picture’ Epilogue: Modernity and Antiquity Author’s Note Image Credits Notes Index
Review quote:
"A deeply imaginative, beautifully written, individual and original book."
Review quote:
"McKenna’s approach to writing the past, present, and future of Australia is deeply considered and precisely crafted."
Review quote:
"Mark McKenna’s The Shortest History of Australia found a new way to trace this continent. . . . With every page, the kaleidoscope shifted and a new way of seeing emerged."
Review quote:
"The Shortest History of Australia has impressive breadth. Somehow in its pages not only is a history told but yesteryear’s jingoistic myths are dispelled."
Review quote:
"This is a sensitive and scrupulous account that says the cliches about Australian history are failures of imagination."
Review quote:
"Original, eloquent, and moving—a revelatory journey into the past we thought we knew."
Review quote:
"In this remarkable book, Mark McKenna offers a concise yet richly layered portrait of Australia. Thoughtful, reflective, and inclusive, The Shortest History of Australia doesn’t flatten the past into a single story, but traces the many threads—First Nations, settler, migrant—that have shaped the nation. With great sensitivity, McKenna also ensures that the country itself—the land, its extremes, and its beauty—is a character, shaping the Australian spirit as much as any historical force. He explores both the tensions that remain and the spirit that endures, offering readers a deeply humane and optimistic account of who we are and how we came to be."
Biographical note:
Mark McKenna is a native of Sydney, Australia, and is a professor of history at the University of Sydney. He is the author of several books on history and politics in Australia, including From the Edge: Australia''s Lost Histories, Return to Uluru, and An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark, which won the Prime Minister''s Literary Award for nonfiction and the Victorian, New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australian premiers'' awards. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2013.