What do you think?
Rate this book
A Little History of Australia
Highly readable, often surprising and always enjoyable, A Little History of Australia tells the whole story of this Great Southern Land, from its Aboriginal origins to the present day, discovery by European navigators who claimed the land as their own - even though it was already inhabited. the First Fleet, convict settlements, the gold rushes, and turn-of-the-century questions about whether Australia could be a perfect society. the birth-pangs of a federated nation, and the experiences of Australians in the world's wars. continuing tension over links with Britain, massive post-war immigration, successes and problems of the twentieth century, and the celebration of a distinctly Australian way of life."
88 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2000
6 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 19, 2012
Read Australian history in an hour. It’s a 86-page book that summarizes Australia's major milestones since Captain Cook’s “discovery”.
On the onset, the issue focuses on land ownership.
Peel disputes Cook’s claim of "terra nullius" when he landed on NSW in 1770. He argues that more than one million people had already inhabited the continent. He also provides poignant sketches of Aboriginal people; although they were shocked to learn they are not the only people living on Earth at the first sight of foreign arrivals, they were generous and willing to share the land. The new settlers, however, had other plans– including to forcibly possess the whole land and to impose their own sovereignty.
Decimation of indigenous people followed, along with the consequent arrivals of convicts from far away land turning the new discovered land into in land of gaols.
For the rest of the story, like many history books, it details the chronology of events – from the Gold Rush that defined Australia’s wealth to the process of federation, Chinese threat and White Australia Policy, First and Second World Wars, ANZAC and Gallipoli, and other issues of contemporary times.
Australian history has never been made easier to read than this book.
On the onset, the issue focuses on land ownership.
Peel disputes Cook’s claim of "terra nullius" when he landed on NSW in 1770. He argues that more than one million people had already inhabited the continent. He also provides poignant sketches of Aboriginal people; although they were shocked to learn they are not the only people living on Earth at the first sight of foreign arrivals, they were generous and willing to share the land. The new settlers, however, had other plans– including to forcibly possess the whole land and to impose their own sovereignty.
Decimation of indigenous people followed, along with the consequent arrivals of convicts from far away land turning the new discovered land into in land of gaols.
For the rest of the story, like many history books, it details the chronology of events – from the Gold Rush that defined Australia’s wealth to the process of federation, Chinese threat and White Australia Policy, First and Second World Wars, ANZAC and Gallipoli, and other issues of contemporary times.
Australian history has never been made easier to read than this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review