Australians: Eureka to the Diggers

Australians #2

by Thomas Keneally

Bestselling author Thomas Keneally brings to life the vast range of characters who have formed our national story, in the second volume of a unique history of Australia.

In this companion volume of Thomas Keneally's widely acclaimed history of the Australian people, the vast range of characters who have formed our national story are brought vividly to life. Immigrants and Aboriginal resistance figures, bushrangers and pastoralists, working men and pioneering women, artists and hard-nosed radicals, politicians and soldiers all populate this richly drawn portrait of a vibrant land on the cusp of nationhood and social maturity.

From the 1860s to the great rifts wrought by World War I, an era commenced in which Australian pursued glimmering visions: of equity in a promised land. It was a time of social experiment and reform, of industrial radicalism and women's rights. We were a society the world had much to learn from, or so we believed. But as much as we espoused we were a special people and celebrated a larrikin anti-authoritarianism, we retained provincial objectives that saw ultimate respect for society's structures. There was no Australian revolution.

With a rich assortment of contradictory, inspiring and surprising characters, Tom Keneally brings to life the people of a young and cocky nation. This is truly a new history of Australia, by an author of outstanding literary skill and experience, and whose own humanity permeates every page.

Praise for Australians:

'No doubt about it, Australians is a corker.' - Cassandra Pybus, Weekend Australian

'...the story of Australia and the Australians could be in no better hands than Keneally's.' - West Australian

'Keneally evokes these distant lives with concrete detail and vivid sympathy...his people inhabit the same world we do - we meet them without the hesitation of reaching across voids of space and time. - Sydney Morning Herald

'[Australians]will appeal to the general reader and the avid historian alike, and this is only the first volume. This reader can't wait for the second.' - Bookseller + Publisher

Genres: History, Australia, Nonfiction

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982, which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Often published under the name Tom Keneally in Australia.

Life and Career:

Born in Sydney, Keneally was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where a writing prize was named after him. He entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly to train as a Catholic priest but left before his ordination. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist, and he was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70). He has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction books.

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name. He is most famous for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), which won the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List (1993). Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (based on his novel) and played Father Marshall in the Fred Schepisi movie, The Devil's Playground (1976) (not to be confused with a similarly-titled documentary by Lucy Walker about the Amish rite of passage called rumspringa).

In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). He is an Australian Living Treasure.

He is a strong advocate of the Australian republic, meaning the severing of all ties with the British monarchy, and published a book on the subject in Our Republic (1993). Several of his Republican essays appear on the web site of the Australian Republican Movement.

Keneally is a keen supporter of rugby league football, in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL. He made an appearance in the rugby league drama film The Final Winter (2007).

In March 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's Lincoln biography to President Barack Obama as a state gift.

Most recently Thomas Keneally featured as a writer in the critically acclaimed Australian drama, Our Sunburnt Country.

Thomas Keneally's nephew Ben is married to the former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally.

Reviews

[Jonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The imaginatively titled sequel to Australians: Origins to Eureka continues from the first volume, both thematically and in tone. A slightly irreverent, cheerful look at an awful lot of nation building, exploration, a good deal of behaviour that would get you banned from any number of social media sites nowadays... all told by the great and good, and (best of all) the not so great and good.

So if you want to find out why being the son of a famous author isn't all it's cracked up to be, or how to annoy po- faced military types and politicians in one short sentence, or how to build anation out of a penal colony, this one's for you. All that and how surfing furthered the cause of dodgy science.

I've bounced it up from 4 1/2 to five stars because it manages to make you smile even at the most desparate of times.

[T P Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent continuation of this historical trilogy. The issue with this book is that the stakes are so low. It's hard to really care too much about provincial politics in Australia in the last century and the debates over the collation of the capital. The book comes into its own with the brief descritipion of Australian participation in World War I. The author makes an effort to describe the brutal treatment of the original Australian peoples and the genocide carried out in parts of Australia. That's excellent but that part of the tale felt like it could have easily been expanded.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to even recognize Australia today when reading this. Strange though that we (the 50+%) are still fighting the socialists ad closet commies trying to ruin our beautiful Australia... So sad that we are all so gullible lately and just going with the flow... What will our kids think reading this later the sacrifices our elders made for this country and how we are selling out to globalists one world government...

[Dulcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keneally has a brilliant narrative approach to history which is highly unique; rivalled only by Grace Karskens. This 3 volumes represents a genuine innovation.

[Stephen Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and great narrative.

[Mark Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no doubt Keneally can write. His series on Australia shows his immense talent and knowledge as he focuses on people and their stories to provide examples of their lives and experiences. Bushrangers, explorers, politicians, artists, writers, soldiers, businessmen, farmers, and more are all covered. In providing such a cover, Keneally uses a machine gun approach meaning people who warrant their own book are covered in a single sentence.

An impressive work from an impressive man.