A Shorter History of Australia

by geoffrey-blainey

After a lifetime of research and debate on Australian and international history, Geoffrey Blainey is well-placed to introduce us to the people who have played a part and to guide us through the events which have created the Australian identityweaving in and out, again and again, over 50,000 years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Australia, Audiobook, Historical, Travel

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[withdrawn]

I shall leave this book unrated because, a) I was obviously not a member of the intended audience; and, b) I have little patience for histories that make assumptions and then run with them. However, it is possible that this book would appeal to someone who is a) a young, not (yet) educated; and b) non-critical in their standards of proof. That definition might fit an Australian high school student seeking to learn about his or her country following a disastrous course on said subject in the local high school.

[Romany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nasty little colonial tome.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a recent immigrant down under I wanted an entry point to understanding the Australian experience. This book met my needs. Blainey does a great job of showing how his themes of climate and distance weave through the history of the people living here starting from before the Europeans arrived. Most the book is, of course, the history of the relatively new nation of Australia, but in glorifying the present he doesn’t shy away from sensitive issues such as Aboriginal relations, immigration and the environment. Rather, he provides a measured, well researched, yet very Australian perspective. Having just moved here from the US, I also enjoyed how he provides many parallels with the American experience, teasing out some not so obvious ways the two former British colonies relate to one another.

[Geoff McArthur · Rating 1 out of 5]

predictable out dated racist bullshit

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. I hope Australian school kids aren't being given this to read. Blainey has somehow managed to tell the fascinating story of our country's history in such a way that even a history lover like me found it boring.
I suppose it goes with the idea of it being a Shorter History - there's not enough space to do more than skim over events, be highly selective, and make sweeping statements about things. But too often when he made what appeared to be an unsubstantiated claim about public opinion in times past I found myself asking 'how can he know that in the era before public opinion polling?' On the audiobook there's no endnotes, references or suggested further reading list to check the statement against. Blainey is, of course, one of Australia's eminent historians, but still, in the shadow of the 'history wars' in this country, I'm not willing to assume that any historian has valid evidence for his opinions.
There's too much about economic history, and what there is seems politically biased. And too much about mining, and virtually nothing about the knowledge economy, which is after all what we'll be relying on for exports to sustain our standard of living once we've dug up all the minerals.
There's also nothing about the founding of Melbourne (so see my review of .
Most notably, in his summation about the High Court of Australia's Mabo judgement, he doesn't give the reason for the High Court's ruling. That is, that under British law at the time of colonisation, the indigenous people owned the land, and that unless that land had been transferred into the legal system and had a proper legal title it still belonged to those indigenous people, as long as they had maintained continuous occupation of it. Blainey makes it sound as if this ruling was a strange aberration by the High Court trying to usurp the powers of the parliament, but all it was doing was applying the law as it stood. The result was that Crown land (i.e. all the bits that weren't owned by somebody or some corporation) where a tribe was still living belonged to that tribe. The reason there was such angst about this is that there are still vast swathes of Australia which are leased to farmers and more often these days to farming corporations. These are most often 99-year leases with absurdly low lease payments. These farmers have been there so long that they think and act as if they own the land, but they don't, and they had to negotiate with Aborigines who'd at last succeeded in using the legal system to achieve their land rights. THis is a highly significant moment in Australian history, and it's quick and easy to explain (as I just have) but Blainey chooses not to do it, as he also chooses not to say anything about Reconciliation.
I could go on, because I think this is not an unbiased history - he's a bit churlish about Labor PMs and he fawns over his favourite Liberal ones i.e. Menzies and Howard - but I'd have to listen to it again to check my facts, and I definitely do not want to do that!

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like reading Geoffrey Blainey and his short history is no exception. I must admit I classify 'histories' depending on how much new stuff I find and although I didn't find a lot in this one, I did find enough to give it a four out of five rating. I found his segments about the role of the mining history in Australian history to be particularly interesting, which no doubt owes its source to his excellent contacts in this area given the number of 'mining histories' that he has written over so many years. I also found his information on world trade to be very interesting. Well worth a read by anyone interested in Australian history.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome! This book gave me everything I was looking for in a “short history” of Australia. I didn't want to get bogged down in long a lecture style presentation and found this to be a light, easy to follow, free flowing and enjoyable delivery of the milestones in Australia’s history. Perhaps it is because I am a homesick Australian, living outside my country, but I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, Australian history is not something I consider myself to be particularly knowledgeable about beyond the general details of aboriginal settling and isolation, British settlement, and Australia's simultaneous attempt to assert itself within the British and American imperial systems and also their cringing attitude towards more dominant nations.  That said, after listening to 11 hours of a reading of Australia's history, I can say that this general understanding did in fact capture a great deal of the history of the country.  And while the author claims a desire to talk about the social history that he views as more important than the political history or the (very limited) military history of Australia, a great deal of the time here is spent in talking about political leaders like Menzies and Howard and the way that political realities shaped the behavior of those who were in office as much as political leaders shaped the times in which they lived.  And while I can say that after listening to this book that I feel I understand Australia's history a bit better, I cannot say that I feel myself impressed by the history itself although the author's attempt to balance various concerns and present an even-handed approach to a contentious history is admirable.

This book is, for the most part, a fairly conventional chronologically-told history of Australia.  It begins with a discussion of the decidedly non-anthropogenic climate change that isolated the aborigines on the island when the seas rose and prevented the spread of agriculture (which the author refers to as gardening) to the continent.  In general, the author appears ambivalent about the losses suffered by the aboriginal people but also points out that neither the past nor the present offer any easy answers about how it is that isolated stone age populations are to dwell in harmony with advanced Westerners.  Throughout the book the author offers a variety of specific details about travels, business dealings, and political leadership that shows the way that Australia benefited from the actions taken by other people, and how in times like World War I and World War II and Korea and Vietnam Australia leveraged its young male population of fighting age for influence in the diplomatic affairs of the 20th century world.  Overall the book tells a story of boom and bust cycles and of a political culture that is simultaneously rebellious as well as loyal, which is a de facto republic but one that is (at least currently) happy to remain part of the empires of various nations in different ways.

After having listened to this book I think it is easy to say that Australia is easy to be somewhat pitied.  Despite always having been a fairly well-off area thanks to the culture of the British inhabitants, post-settlement Australia has essentially always been an export-driven area that sought to profit off of its resources, such as they were, rather than engage in the difficult practice of internal development that one sees in the United States.  Whether it was in subsidizing British (and other European) settlers or seeking to exploit mineral wealth in trading with China and Japan, Australia has always seemed to be a country that seems to have avoided the difficult work of creating those interior connections and ties that help to make a nation cohesive and resilient.  Its achievements are certainly notable, but its climate and location definitely place some strong limits on how many people it can support even in the best of circumstances and also give it a vulnerability that has always led it to seek the protection of others who are more powerful.  There are worse things to be than a wealthy and ambivalent client state, but one gets the sense that the author wants a more glorious story to tell.

[Bernd · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read, very accessible intro into Australian history that gives a nice feel what it would have been like to live in AU 20, 50, 100, 200 or more years ago.

I probably would not agree with all of the political perspectives of the author as they come across often as quite pragmatic. At least they're always balanced and acknowleding the complexities of any situation, whether it is the relationship between Aboriginal Australians and British settlers or Australia's relationship to neighbouring countries.
Maybe those disagreements made me engage even more with the book than I would have had otherwise.

[unwesha · Rating 1 out of 5]

The second page of the preface contains this gem:

"I do not share the desire of many historians and commentators to denounce sweepingly the white history of Australia in order to enthrone the black history and the present-day Aboriginal demands. Nor is there merit in the opposite extreme of denouncing black history as barbaric. Both phases of history have their distinctive merits."

Despite beginning with this cowardly stance, Blainey manages to dig himself into an even deeper grave as the book progresses. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to read something that I don't agree with, but this feels fundamentally wrong.

This book does not deserve any attention.

[Hayley Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

So cooked! The Bali bombings score a mention but an astounding silence on the forcible removal of children from their families or the introduction of missions as part of a violent colonisation. One massacre at Mile Creek mentioned. His mind boggles at the scarcity of population throughout Australia’s interior perpetuating this continual hostility of the land narrative that is entirely a settler experience. Something, something not even the BHP equipment can deal with it - so bloody brutal. But yeah, climate change could be an issue.

[Geektastic37 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting, simple, straightforward overview of Australian history. I learned a lot, but I wish that I would have picked a book that explored a more specific event or time period more deeply.

[Petersong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This interesting and concise book has improved my knowledge of Australian history. Blainey points to two factors as having the greatest impact on Australia over history: climate and distance. I look forward to reading more of this author's books.

[Monte Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an overview of Australian history. It mostly focuses on the social history, but does include other facets. It gives a good idea of how the country has developed. It is easy to read and still interesting.

[Alfie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: A

Despite living in Australia my whole life I'd always felt like I knew very little about Australian history. Partly because I wasn't taught much about it in school and partly because I didn't listen to what I was taught at the time. This book was a great remedy for that and I now feel like I have a much clearer picture of the general arcs of Australia's past. While a little slow at times I was surprised at how engaged the book kept me overall.

There are quite a few negative reviews based on the lack of Aboriginal history post colonisation and I think that's a fair criticism. Blainey also has an interesting perspective on colonisation in general that makes for some particularly bad looking quotes. In context though (for the most part at least) I don't think they're totally beyond the pale as some other reviewers have said.

[Mitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Australia has to be the best place in the world to live.
God, is it’s history uneventful though, and the author certainly doesn’t help spruce things up at all.
The brief sections on the Indigenous history and encounters were by far the most interesting.
Blainey is a very politically old-school historian; the strain of which is practically anthrax to any Melbournian under the age of 40.

Best kept on the driest, dustiest sections of Tony Abbott’s bookshelf.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to put it down. The strange author was describing Aboriginal people like they're some curious creatures. His tone sounds more English than Australian.

[Andrew Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The choice of the magpie on the book's cover is an apt one. Tom Griffith's in his fantastic 'Art of Time Travel', describes Blainey as the Magpie of Australian history. One who picks up and collects what others wont, and arranges them in curious but authentic ways. I had been cautious about picking up Blainey's work, but given the recommendations by recent books by Griffith senior and junior (Billy in Deep Time Dreaming) as to Blainey's credibility, I felt it worth doing so.

There's much to recommend. Blainey captures much of the pattern and rhythm of Australian life, from the 60'000 years of Aboriginal settlement through to the modern day. His tales and writing sparkle when discussing the late 19th and early 20th century. It is these periods in which he seems to have the surest grasp of the people and their style. And he remains an earnest champion of their successes. After that, as the 1960s and 1970s wrought change, Blainey tends to become more picky. He finds fault more, and is less charitable. This book is of an old style conservatism, which I found generally unobtrusive, save one unforgivable suggestion, buried late in the text, that cultural differences made the White Australia policy and later efforts to slow down the rate of immigration a necessity.

I'm struck however, that having finished this book a month ago or so, already much has left my mind. Snippets here and there, but far less than ought. Perhaps this is the inevitable cost of trying to cover so much ground so quickly. Of trying to present the birds eye view, rather than getting into the branches and seeking to arrange a particular arrangement of facts to detail a particular period.

Still, Australians know precious little of their history, and we should all read writers we may disagree with. Blainey is worth reading if you want to understand this country. But he's written better elsehwere, and there are better books by others that cover this ground.

[Luke Illeniram · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent albeit brief history of Australia. It's very broad strokes, but does a good especially of capturing Australia's 1800s and early 1900s history and the economic factors driving different industries like wool or gold etc. Blainey does a little justice to the pre-colonial history of Australia relating to First Nations Australians, but if you're looking for a post-colonial beat down of white Australia, you won't find it in this book. Blainey seems pretty conservative and his book focuses much more on colonial history and, I suppose, the history of Australia since it has been known as Australia. Black Emu would be a much better book to get a more intimate sense of pre-colonial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, though that comes with its own controversies.

You'll probably leave this book feeling like no topic was really covered very well, but with some better sense of the broad thrusts of how Australia came to be in the modern sense. Not awful, not amazing.

[Brian Keyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small c conservative survey of Australia’s history. Fine enough as a brief overview if the country’s history, with a generally pro-European/capitalist bent when Blainey switches from pure information to offering some assessments or conclusions about the events and people he describes. Wish I knew a bit more of Australian historiography to critically analyze it a bit more, but it’s a popular history originally written in 1994 with very late 20th century values. Again, small c conservative values with a mix of thorough and passing references to aborigines in Australia and an understanding that they’ve been generally under-looked in history even as Blainey mostly overlooks them. Mostly references and does not describe all that ethnic murder that was happening in the 19th century, and even then doesn’t reference it that often. There are probably better popular histories of Australia, with stronger focuses as well. Alas

[Greg Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the history books that should be compulsory reading for all Australians.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read or listen.

[Sam Brief · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A Shorter History Of Australia” by Geoffrey Blainey treats us to a stunning account of Australian history through the lens of a fascinating thesis: Today’s powerful nation of Australia has formed thanks to two crucial factors: Distance and climate.

The massive distance from Australia to the rest of the world (10,553 miles from Sydney to London, 5,557 miles to Beijing and 9,929 miles to New York) naturally isolated it from the time of the first human settlement nearly 50,000 years ago. As a result of this, the massive land mass was unaffected by the great neolithic age of 10,000 B.C., in which humans worldwide gradually took up farming — but Australia’s indigenous population, isolated by the ocean, continued with its hunter-gatherer ways.

That same distance later protected Australia from attack during World War I, in which it joined the great nations of the world in fighting a primarily European war. The distance has helped Australians form a unique cultural identity that was at first incredibly British and later grew into a unique persona shaped by its identity as a convict colony, its 1850s gold rush, its obsession with sport and later its mass of European and Asian immigration.

The climate — unbearably hot in the North Australian summer but warm and sunny in most states nearly year-round — not only drew early migrants but also turned Australia into a nation defined by its cities. Australians for centuries have huddled around its major seaside cities — Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth — and treated the Outback as untouchable.

In fact, when the Outback desert is considered, Australia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, even with the rapid population growth from 1945-present that grew its populace to the current 25 million people. The climate of Australia caused the 1890s drought (the “Federation Drought”) that at first caused economic turmoil and later directly led to the Federation of Australia. In 1901, the six self-governing British colonies, Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, formed the Commonwealth of Australia — at first, to battle the economic hardship but of course, to establish the nation we know today as Australia.

Blainey’s history — not exactly short in its telling — keeps the complex history concise enough to understand. He respects indigenous culture, explains the complex relationship past and present-day Australians have had with native peoples, illustrates the tremendous growth of the nation and pumps up the value of today’s Australia: a true powerhouse, isolated by distance but crucial culturally, economically and militarily in today’s world.

[Fernando Amaral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maravillosa introducción a la historia —y, en consecuencia, a la cultura— de uno de los países más asombrosos que he tenido el privilegio de visitar. Una tierra forjada por el esfuerzo, si es que existe una. Es impresionante la capacidad del ser humano para convertir desiertos en paraísos.

Me pareció excelente que no se dejara de lado todo el período aborigen, sino que, más bien, el libro comenzara con una narración geológica sobre cómo llegó a formarse el continente australiano (por no decir Oceanía). Un país que, contra cualquier pronóstico, dado su origen penitenciario, ha sabido navegar sus días sin mayores sobresaltos. Y que, cuando le tocó enfrentar los desafíos de las guerras mundiales, respondió con toda la fuerza y el espíritu que las circunstancias requerían.

Habiendo concluido mi visita, creo que haber leído el libro fue esencial para aclimatarme y prepararme para conocer estas nuevas y extrañas tierras. La “familiaridad” que sentía al caminar por las calles de Sydney creo que es el mejor testimonio de la calidad del libro. Uno que no reuniera las características de calidad y detalle jamás habría logrado impregnarme de ese sentimiento. Obviamente, reconozco que es una sensación infundada y limitada; creo que tomaría al menos cinco años conocer realmente un país ajeno al que nacimos.

En fin, gran libro, pero mejor país (o ciudad, considerando que solo pude ir a Sydney). Se me hace evidente el porqué la gente abandona sus vidas pasadas y se viene a este remoto rincón del mundo. Qué dolor lo lejos que queda; me gustaría volver todos los años.

[William Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid introduction into Australian History. Blainey’s breadth of knowledge is clear, and he paints a vivid picture of how the nation grew and evolved. His commentary on colonialism, multiculturalism, and contemporary attitudes is particularly eye opening, and the historical context and nuance he provides to such events allows him to paint a fuller and what must be truer picture of how our nation came to be. It is refreshing to be able to read a book that does not take the demonstrably false ‘black armband’ view of history, as Blainey calls it. While some sections of the book can be quite dull, particularly in the chapters on more modern Australia of 1920-1980, that may simply be a reflection of the substantial lack of ‘excitingness’ of that period of time in the story of the nation. Some particularly focuses initially seem odd and unnecessary, such as focusing on the Catholics in the Labor Party for almost a whole sub-chapter, yet spending far less time on the know stories of Kelly and Bradman, he expertly weaves it all together to show just how that has shaped Australia. And to be perfectly honest, the more unique focuses keeps the book engaging. Obviously the book is mostly surface-level, it is a vitally important and ever relevant book, one that should be given to many of our young. Blainey as Australia’s best living historian has produced another classic.

[Audrius S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not Australian even though I had a wonderful opportunity to spend almost one month in Australia, mostly New South Wales. Even though some time has passed since I had this experience, Australia will always be remembered as a wonderful land where my grandfather's brother fled after the WW2. Therefore I was particularly happy when given this book by my cousin as a present.

The book is very comprehensive particularly for non-Australians like me. The way it is structured and written makes it easy and enjoyable to read.

The principal drawback of this work for sure is not enough information about the suffering of the Aborigines, even though I dare to disagree with those commentators who argue there is no mentioning of the mistreatment of the Aborigines by the new Australians. On the other hand, perhaps it is just my limitation as I know very little about the way the Aborigines were treated besides this book. What I approve of is an anthropological insight of this historian that misunderstandings between the post-industry-revolution British and the Aborigines who were beyond the Neolithic revolution were inescapable.

[Stephen Lay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely an excellent book. It's not too long, it doesn't get bogged down in any weeds and it focusses on a wide range of significant epochs, developments and situations in Aus history. There were more than a few things in here that I was familiar with, but also many many that I was not!

Pleasantly, this isn't some flaggelating self-hating apology version of Australian history where everyone is made out to be a villain. The author handles delicate issues with tact and balance. Lots of great stuff, I might even buy the paperback.

Read it!

P.S.
Did you know that the oldest AFL teams are older than most if not all of the European Soccer teams? That sport is oldddd.

[Bree Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fascinating, as an Australian, to realise how lacking my knowledge of Australian history was. However, this book lacked some items of significance too. The trouble with an abridged version of history is that some events must be omitted for the sake of word count.
The author is clearly talented and has a great passion for Australia and its history, but I found his political leanings to be very clear, despite never being outright stated. This book was well-written but by no means non-partisan.

[Michelle Crunkleton-Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it isn't fair for me to review this. I listened to the audiobook version and perhaps it wasn't a good choice as I couldn't look at maps and things. I'm an American wanting to know a little bit about Australian history because my daughter is planning to study abroad. Because I was so ignorant of the geography and place names, I was a bit lost. It was the only option for a quick overview of Australian history available on audible. I guess I picked up a few things.

[Mike Zadravec · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. I think I now understand a little more about some of the weirder quirks of this country. My biggest take away from this book is that Australia loosely has Canada to thank for its' independence due to a shift in policy with how Britain governed its' overseas territories following the Canadian rebellion of 1837. You're welcome cunts.

Looking forward to reading Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore as my next foray into Australian history.