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Making Australian History
A few years ago Anna Clark saw a series of paintings on a sandstone cliff face in the Northern Territory. There were characteristic crosshatched images of fat barramundi and turtles, as well as sprayed handprints and several human figures bearing spears. Next to them was a long gun, painted with white ochre, an unmistakable image of the colonisers. Was this an Indigenous rendering of contact? A work of history?
Each piece of history has a message and context that depends on who wrote it and when. Australia's national story has swirled and contorted over the years, showing that history isn't just about understanding what happened and why. It also reflects the persuasions, politics and prejudices of its authors.
Each new wave of historians asks its own questions and produces its own narratives of the past. Making Australian History tells the story of successive generations of history-makers. In doing so, it also tells a story of Australia itself.
Each piece of history has a message and context that depends on who wrote it and when. Australia's national story has swirled and contorted over the years, showing that history isn't just about understanding what happened and why. It also reflects the persuasions, politics and prejudices of its authors.
Each new wave of historians asks its own questions and produces its own narratives of the past. Making Australian History tells the story of successive generations of history-makers. In doing so, it also tells a story of Australia itself.
417 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 19, 2022
What drew me to this book is my love of Australian history, both as a teacher of the subject and having a personal interest more generally. However, as I started reading, it really wasn’t what I expected – this is not an Australian history book as such, rather a history of the making of Australian history, or a history about history as a discipline in Australia. If that sounds a bit pretentious or even a bit dry, don’t think you’d be alone in thinking that. It was kind of my initial vibe. The book started off feeling specifically tailored to historians or history academics, as opposed to something that could be approached by the general reader.
As I got past my initial impressions, I became aware that I was wrong about this book. It is about so much more than I thought.
Anna Clark’s Making Australian History is a valuable book in clearly defining how ‘Australian history’ has been crafted over time, using numerous sources to evaluate history’s role in the creation of Australia as a ‘nation’, but also how we must understand the lasting impact of this history making.
Clark goes through the different periods of Australian history through each chapter (e.g., ‘Convicts’, ‘Country’, ‘Imagination’), beginning each section by unpacking the context of a core source that is representative of the historiography of the era. She then expands to examine other similar sources to discuss not only how Australian history making was shaped throughout the period, but also highlighting what has been missing from the time that may yet be explored, contested or re-written. Throughout much of its past, Clark shows how historians have used the discipline of history to establish a national Australian identity, but also to uphold and strengthen colonialist ideals of cultural and racial superiority, and to silence oppressed peoples.
Despite the array of ‘alternate’ viewpoints and arguments Clark dissects (the role of women, the convict stain, the ANZAC myth, the History Wars), much of the book ties back to the representation, or lack thereof, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories across time. To most early colonisers (and the history they created), First Nations people had ‘no history’ because they did not follow traditional historical methodology. The view was (and to many, still is) that people do not have a history if they do not write it down.
This narrow way of looking at history, as Clark outlines, discounts and excludes most non-European cultures like Australia’s First Nations people who instead pass information and stories over generations through oral tradition, art, ceremony, a connection to Country and knowledge possessed by Elders. Clark shows how although Australian history pre-colonisation lacks the sources of information valued by the Western academic discipline, it does not mean it does not exist. It simply means we do not currently have the capacity to access it. By devaluing and dismissing more ‘subjective’ methods of history making, the British were able to justify their colonisation, uphold their claim of terra nullius, and reinforce the view of First Nations peoples as ‘savages’. This resulted the continued dehumanisation of Australia’s Indigenous peoples, and the systematic destruction of their cultural and historical traditions. We are still grappling with this as a nation today.
More broadly, Clark argues how for the longest time capital-H History was founded on objective, dispassionate, ‘scientific’ methodology – official records and accounts from literate, university educated academics (usually straight white men vested in upholding the status quo [surprise!]) History by its very nature is therefore exclusionary, male-dominated, racist, classist, colonialist…pretty much every ‘-ist’ you can think of. But it also doesn’t have to be. The way we understand history is ever changing and should never stop being challenged and re-appraised. Clark convincingly shows how the Western, ‘traditional’ way of thinking about history often fails to achieve its goal – understanding all aspects of the past, and how we can learn from it.
The message Clark passes on should be understood by as many people as possible as a way for us as Australians to be protected from history being used as a weapon against those it has thus far failed to represent. History has the potential to bind us as a nation and build connections between cultures, communities, but also as way to discuss representation and provide different shades of meaning to the people and events of our collective pasts. Compassion, empathy and true understanding, not just blind objectivity, are what makes history mean something.
And finally,
A postscript:
F*** you, Keith Windschuttle.
As I got past my initial impressions, I became aware that I was wrong about this book. It is about so much more than I thought.
Anna Clark’s Making Australian History is a valuable book in clearly defining how ‘Australian history’ has been crafted over time, using numerous sources to evaluate history’s role in the creation of Australia as a ‘nation’, but also how we must understand the lasting impact of this history making.
Clark goes through the different periods of Australian history through each chapter (e.g., ‘Convicts’, ‘Country’, ‘Imagination’), beginning each section by unpacking the context of a core source that is representative of the historiography of the era. She then expands to examine other similar sources to discuss not only how Australian history making was shaped throughout the period, but also highlighting what has been missing from the time that may yet be explored, contested or re-written. Throughout much of its past, Clark shows how historians have used the discipline of history to establish a national Australian identity, but also to uphold and strengthen colonialist ideals of cultural and racial superiority, and to silence oppressed peoples.
Despite the array of ‘alternate’ viewpoints and arguments Clark dissects (the role of women, the convict stain, the ANZAC myth, the History Wars), much of the book ties back to the representation, or lack thereof, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories across time. To most early colonisers (and the history they created), First Nations people had ‘no history’ because they did not follow traditional historical methodology. The view was (and to many, still is) that people do not have a history if they do not write it down.
This narrow way of looking at history, as Clark outlines, discounts and excludes most non-European cultures like Australia’s First Nations people who instead pass information and stories over generations through oral tradition, art, ceremony, a connection to Country and knowledge possessed by Elders. Clark shows how although Australian history pre-colonisation lacks the sources of information valued by the Western academic discipline, it does not mean it does not exist. It simply means we do not currently have the capacity to access it. By devaluing and dismissing more ‘subjective’ methods of history making, the British were able to justify their colonisation, uphold their claim of terra nullius, and reinforce the view of First Nations peoples as ‘savages’. This resulted the continued dehumanisation of Australia’s Indigenous peoples, and the systematic destruction of their cultural and historical traditions. We are still grappling with this as a nation today.
More broadly, Clark argues how for the longest time capital-H History was founded on objective, dispassionate, ‘scientific’ methodology – official records and accounts from literate, university educated academics (usually straight white men vested in upholding the status quo [surprise!]) History by its very nature is therefore exclusionary, male-dominated, racist, classist, colonialist…pretty much every ‘-ist’ you can think of. But it also doesn’t have to be. The way we understand history is ever changing and should never stop being challenged and re-appraised. Clark convincingly shows how the Western, ‘traditional’ way of thinking about history often fails to achieve its goal – understanding all aspects of the past, and how we can learn from it.
The message Clark passes on should be understood by as many people as possible as a way for us as Australians to be protected from history being used as a weapon against those it has thus far failed to represent. History has the potential to bind us as a nation and build connections between cultures, communities, but also as way to discuss representation and provide different shades of meaning to the people and events of our collective pasts. Compassion, empathy and true understanding, not just blind objectivity, are what makes history mean something.
And finally,
A postscript:
F*** you, Keith Windschuttle.
April 1, 2025
In an excellent work of popular historiography, Clark makes a readable, straightforward case for a self-conscious understanding of Australian history.
The shift from contact to entanglement, the forgotten history wars, and the inconsistent love of convicts and Anzacs all blend to make an overdone and, at points, tedious but important argument against objectivity.
By the end, it's hard to imagine how a modern Australian will ever grasp the scale of Australia, let alone Deep Time. As EP Thompson pointed out, "we are among the losers."
The shift from contact to entanglement, the forgotten history wars, and the inconsistent love of convicts and Anzacs all blend to make an overdone and, at points, tedious but important argument against objectivity.
By the end, it's hard to imagine how a modern Australian will ever grasp the scale of Australia, let alone Deep Time. As EP Thompson pointed out, "we are among the losers."
May 25, 2022
This is a difficult one to rate because I think I misunderstood what the book was about. I'm really interested in the way that history changes over time in terms of what gets taught in schools, the way it gets weaponised by politicians and other groups, etc. There was a little bit of that but not as much as I was expecting. Re-reading the blurb though I think that was my error rather than the author's. Instead this was more about the way that making history changes over time - the rules of the discipline, who's included, etc. Some chapters (eg convicts) I found really interesting. Others I found very dry and too conceptual. Overall I felt it kind of read like a book for those who are inside the tent - I think historians and academics will love it.
February 1, 2023
This was an interesting read! The exploration of how history is written by those in power, then revised over time was good. I found the parts about how History as an academic field excludes parts of history not only because of social and political environments at the time, but also simply due to the rigid forms the academy will accept histories in, really interesting.
July 29, 2022
Not a review book! One that I saw in the delightful bookshop in Queenscliff and barely even stopped as I walked past, grabbed it, and paid for it.
(Who am I, reading historiography about Australian history? Australian history? My how I have changed.)
Sometimes I forget how much I love historiography. And I really, truly love it. A history of history writing/making itself? How much more meta can you get?? And Clark writes just so beautifully. This entire book is a delight.
Clark aims to present a history of how Australian History (the capital H is discussed very frankly and thoughtfully) has been written over... a very long period of time; and also how the writing of Australian History has helped to construct that history. Clark is under no illusions about the reality that History writing is part of the colonial project, and I think one of the great ongoing themes here is how Clark starts to unravel, deconstruct, illuminate, and reflect on that very process.
(Do the adjectives give a sense of how much I enjoyed this book?)
Another of the great aspects of this book for me is that it's not entirely chronological - something else that she discusses frankly in the introduction. Chapters are thematic, and vaguely chronological, and also generally chronological within the chapter; but chronology is not the be-all of history writing, important as it is. I deeply enjoyed that there were chapters on 'emotion' and 'gender' that ranged across time, to show how those things have affected history writing at various points.
Each chapter has a focal text, one that Clark uses as an instrumental text (in a broad sense) to get at a particular idea. Which is precisely something that I've done in the classroom, and it works really beautifully in the book to draw out and illustrate particular ideas. It's a really great way of managing the flow of the chapters.
... it's just really great. I think it serves as a good, thoughtful introduction to how Australian History has been written, thought about, and itself produced the Australia we live in today. Clark uses the 'whispers' and alternate texts and sometimes things that haven't always been considered as history to give a sense of just what can be meant by 'Australian history'. You don't need an in-depth knowledge of history, or historical theory, to enjoy this - although you do need to be prepared to really think about the ideas being presented.
(Who am I, reading historiography about Australian history? Australian history? My how I have changed.)
Sometimes I forget how much I love historiography. And I really, truly love it. A history of history writing/making itself? How much more meta can you get?? And Clark writes just so beautifully. This entire book is a delight.
Clark aims to present a history of how Australian History (the capital H is discussed very frankly and thoughtfully) has been written over... a very long period of time; and also how the writing of Australian History has helped to construct that history. Clark is under no illusions about the reality that History writing is part of the colonial project, and I think one of the great ongoing themes here is how Clark starts to unravel, deconstruct, illuminate, and reflect on that very process.
(Do the adjectives give a sense of how much I enjoyed this book?)
Another of the great aspects of this book for me is that it's not entirely chronological - something else that she discusses frankly in the introduction. Chapters are thematic, and vaguely chronological, and also generally chronological within the chapter; but chronology is not the be-all of history writing, important as it is. I deeply enjoyed that there were chapters on 'emotion' and 'gender' that ranged across time, to show how those things have affected history writing at various points.
Each chapter has a focal text, one that Clark uses as an instrumental text (in a broad sense) to get at a particular idea. Which is precisely something that I've done in the classroom, and it works really beautifully in the book to draw out and illustrate particular ideas. It's a really great way of managing the flow of the chapters.
... it's just really great. I think it serves as a good, thoughtful introduction to how Australian History has been written, thought about, and itself produced the Australia we live in today. Clark uses the 'whispers' and alternate texts and sometimes things that haven't always been considered as history to give a sense of just what can be meant by 'Australian history'. You don't need an in-depth knowledge of history, or historical theory, to enjoy this - although you do need to be prepared to really think about the ideas being presented.
April 10, 2022
Loved this book. Clearly and engagingly written, the book addresses the question of the nature of history (not just AUSTRALIAN history) itself. Seems to me to be the perfect introductory text for History 101. It really does show the reader the problematic nature of history.
While the book is broad in its scope already, I would have liked to have read something of other Australian groups, like the Irish, who stood clearly against the British Imperial Project in Australia, but whose voice has been but little heard by historians.
While the book is broad in its scope already, I would have liked to have read something of other Australian groups, like the Irish, who stood clearly against the British Imperial Project in Australia, but whose voice has been but little heard by historians.
November 27, 2023
‘Making Australian History’ by Anna Clark is a historiographical study of how the ‘official account’ of Australian history has developed over time.
Clark introduces two definitions of history - the big ‘H’ History and the little ‘h’ history. Australian (H)istory is the official account - the narrative that is cultivated to represent what we want history to look like. Australian (h)istory is the true account - the narrative that represents reality and acknowledges history from all sides of the fence.
Given the recent debate around The Voice, and the other components of the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart, Clark’s work is a compelling reminder of why we need to re-prosecute how we develop and foster our history. Similar to Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’, Clark exposes how the lack of cultural empathy amongst history makers has warped how we see our own history, and how we respond as a society’s injustices - most of which are rooted in our past.
So given the underlying thesis is very topical, how should Clark’s study be read? Going into this book, I wasn’t expecting a very strong historiographical angle to be taken. Clark has clearly gone to an immense effort to support her argument with countless sources - the list of references at the back of the book is extensive. Clark’s study is rigorous - to me at least, she comes across as a credible and well read historian. However, Clark’s style of writing came across as too academic for what I want as a reader. I caught myself zoning out countless times during the read; and finding myself a couple of pages deep not knowing what had just happened. Perhaps there is a specific audience for this book, or maybe my concentration is slipping as I get older? Either way, it was a missed opportunity to create a book that establishes a tangible footprint across Australian bookshelves - it had potential to become an influencer for good.
For now, treat this book as your reference to real Australian history. Grab a highlighter and post-it notes and mark it up. Engage with your friends and family, and talk about the missing side of Australian history. Paired with the reader, Clark’s book can enrich how Australian’s see our history - however, it cannot do it alone.
Clark introduces two definitions of history - the big ‘H’ History and the little ‘h’ history. Australian (H)istory is the official account - the narrative that is cultivated to represent what we want history to look like. Australian (h)istory is the true account - the narrative that represents reality and acknowledges history from all sides of the fence.
Given the recent debate around The Voice, and the other components of the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart, Clark’s work is a compelling reminder of why we need to re-prosecute how we develop and foster our history. Similar to Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’, Clark exposes how the lack of cultural empathy amongst history makers has warped how we see our own history, and how we respond as a society’s injustices - most of which are rooted in our past.
So given the underlying thesis is very topical, how should Clark’s study be read? Going into this book, I wasn’t expecting a very strong historiographical angle to be taken. Clark has clearly gone to an immense effort to support her argument with countless sources - the list of references at the back of the book is extensive. Clark’s study is rigorous - to me at least, she comes across as a credible and well read historian. However, Clark’s style of writing came across as too academic for what I want as a reader. I caught myself zoning out countless times during the read; and finding myself a couple of pages deep not knowing what had just happened. Perhaps there is a specific audience for this book, or maybe my concentration is slipping as I get older? Either way, it was a missed opportunity to create a book that establishes a tangible footprint across Australian bookshelves - it had potential to become an influencer for good.
For now, treat this book as your reference to real Australian history. Grab a highlighter and post-it notes and mark it up. Engage with your friends and family, and talk about the missing side of Australian history. Paired with the reader, Clark’s book can enrich how Australian’s see our history - however, it cannot do it alone.
December 11, 2022
I picked this up at the Sydney Opera House gift shop a couple of days into my first ever trip to Australia. I’d read a couple of travel books about Australia, but I didn’t really know anything about Australian history beyond the fact that Aboriginal culture stretches back over 60,000 years, Cook’s landing and the convict history, and more recent events like the Sydney Olympics. I thought this might help me fill in the gaps.
What I got was so much more. Beyond filling me in on some of the major historical events of Australian history, it also gave me an accounting of how Australian history writing and concepts have changed over time, and how they might continue to change. It also made me think more deeply about what History (the subject) is, what can inform History, who writes History, and how History is understood and used by the people who read it, teach it, and talk about it.
It dealt with one broad concept per chapter, informed by one particular document, artefact or place, such as Protest, Silence, Gender, and Imagination. It also demonstrated how History and those who record it has been challenged over time, and how it is continuing to develop to address the silenced voices and the truth-telling required by the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart (which is the topic of the book I’m currently reading…watch this space for a review).
It was accessible and readable, even to somebody from outside the field of History.
In short, it was utterly fascinating, and I would recommend it to anybody who would like to learn about Australian history or the discipline of History (whether in Australia or internationally).
What I got was so much more. Beyond filling me in on some of the major historical events of Australian history, it also gave me an accounting of how Australian history writing and concepts have changed over time, and how they might continue to change. It also made me think more deeply about what History (the subject) is, what can inform History, who writes History, and how History is understood and used by the people who read it, teach it, and talk about it.
It dealt with one broad concept per chapter, informed by one particular document, artefact or place, such as Protest, Silence, Gender, and Imagination. It also demonstrated how History and those who record it has been challenged over time, and how it is continuing to develop to address the silenced voices and the truth-telling required by the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart (which is the topic of the book I’m currently reading…watch this space for a review).
It was accessible and readable, even to somebody from outside the field of History.
In short, it was utterly fascinating, and I would recommend it to anybody who would like to learn about Australian history or the discipline of History (whether in Australia or internationally).
February 20, 2022
I found this book to be outstanding historiography but somewhat depressing. Clark's book takes readers through a timeline of Australian history writing, organised both chronologically and in themes. The work includes some penetrating insights, for example the role of history writing in the Australian colonial project. Clark contends that Australian History (she capitalises the word) had two roles in the early colony - it both documented the colony's story and legitimised it. As such, history was a weapon in the armoury of colonisation.
What is depressing is how enthusiastically historians documented the wanton destruction of Indigenous culture, and how little regard was given to that culture. Clark's book is replete with colonial historians cheering on the eradication of First Nations people in the name of "progress".
Any work which critiques the attitudes of those who lived centuries ago runs the risk of anachronism i.e. criticising past attitudes and actions on the basis of contemporary values. Clark manages to steer through the rocks of anachronism with some skill, although conservative readers may not agree.
Clark's book is outstanding historiography which provides some searing insights into the complex and difficult history of Australia.
What is depressing is how enthusiastically historians documented the wanton destruction of Indigenous culture, and how little regard was given to that culture. Clark's book is replete with colonial historians cheering on the eradication of First Nations people in the name of "progress".
Any work which critiques the attitudes of those who lived centuries ago runs the risk of anachronism i.e. criticising past attitudes and actions on the basis of contemporary values. Clark manages to steer through the rocks of anachronism with some skill, although conservative readers may not agree.
Clark's book is outstanding historiography which provides some searing insights into the complex and difficult history of Australia.
February 11, 2025
A well thought out historiography of Australian History. The book asks the question, how has History with a capital H been created in Australia, and what does this tell about the actual events they are meant to recount, history with a lowercase h.
She is perceptive and writes in an engaging way for a general audience. Historiography, I think, is really fun. It can tell us more about the political climate of the time than a literal reading of contemporary sources will. Clark succeeds in conveying the fraught act of History making in Australia, from Deep Time to modern 'history wars', there are so many ways that the history this country has been told. Each one represents a different understanding of how the author views the land on which they stand.
She is perceptive and writes in an engaging way for a general audience. Historiography, I think, is really fun. It can tell us more about the political climate of the time than a literal reading of contemporary sources will. Clark succeeds in conveying the fraught act of History making in Australia, from Deep Time to modern 'history wars', there are so many ways that the history this country has been told. Each one represents a different understanding of how the author views the land on which they stand.
September 4, 2025
I’m confused why the author didn’t write the book it seems they wanted to write the forward and last chapter are long apologies for not including the history from the First Nations and aboriginal peoples and many of the chapters sandwiched within those long apologies have little apologies sprinkled in them too… seems like rather than apologise for not including that could have just included the voices of the First Nations. As a reader I would have been stoked to read that and seems like the author would have had more fun covering it than constantly apologising for skipping it.
May 13, 2023
This is not a book to read quickly.It’s a book to dip into frequently to absorb the information and interpretation she gives to Australia’s story.An unusual format structured around important terms which are then discussed by how various historians have treated them since 1787.Very informative and essential reading for any interested in the changing face of Australian history.
January 2, 2024
This book reminded me of one of the things I was taught in my history a level. When reading history look at who is writing it and what influenced them to take the view they are expounding in their text. It was a difficult read as well due to the supreme arrogance of the colonisers and how this was so detrimental to the First people Aborigines.
February 9, 2025
Excellent! A fantastic overview of the evolution of Australian history involving many fascinating historiographical discussions. Started reading in Melbourne (and there are many references to the Victoria State Library which we visited several times) and then had to get an interlibrary loan request to finish it in NZ. Would love to read this book in other national contexts.
August 16, 2022
A brilliant historiography centred on the narrative that is Australia. Clark explores the ways in which the discipline of history has evolved and the multitude of ways it can be presented over time. Fascinating read for history lovers.
October 8, 2023
Tired from the battle that is happening across our Nation, when we have folk who are so rigid in their thinking that they feel we can't go back and question the histories that have been written?
Clark's book takes us through the process of doing just that.
Clark's book takes us through the process of doing just that.
April 11, 2024
An excellent historical review of the approaches to studying Australian History. Interesting and readable information. Interestingly, Anna Clark distances herself from her grandfather, Professor Manning Clark, the guru Australian historian when I was at uni.
July 19, 2024
One of the best history books I’ve read, let alone best Australian history books. Clark’s chronological approach to historiography is unique, incredibly useful and actually really entertaining. This is one of those rare gems - a history book written by an academic that doesn’t read as academic.
February 21, 2025
Lucid reflections on how Australian historiography has changed over time. I think I was expecting more info on history itself - but that’s just cos I have a lot of gaps in that knowledge myself! Best parts were the unpacking of subjectivity and the myth of the scientific historian.
November 19, 2023
This book has changed not only my view on Australia, but how I write about Australia. Phenomenal, deep writing. I look forward to revisiting this again soon.
January 23, 2025
Brilliant look at the development of constructed histories in Australia.
March 12, 2025
A very interesting and enjoyable book about various aspects of Australian history and historians.
March 25, 2023
I’m left crossed eyed trying to comprehend all the layers revealed in the dissection of the history and history making. And I’m not even talking about the main and known parts like First Nations, Country, convicts, nation building based on the war narrative, feminism etc., but rather the complexity underneath all of these topics. Just confirms, that Australian heritage is far more complex than First Nations vs. colonisation dichotomy.
Truly remarkable book.
After reading it though, one might think that “Australia” means NSW and a bit of Victoria. Living in the bubble myself, that didn’t even occur to me until the very end. Is that because the Australian history really happened mainly on the Eastern Coast? Surely not?
Truly remarkable book.
After reading it though, one might think that “Australia” means NSW and a bit of Victoria. Living in the bubble myself, that didn’t even occur to me until the very end. Is that because the Australian history really happened mainly on the Eastern Coast? Surely not?
January 26, 2023
Awesome. Informed, broad and far-reaching content.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews