Australia: A Biography of a Nation

by Phillip Knightley

This book--part history, part travelogue, part memoir--tells the inspiring story of how a one-time British colony with only two sorts of citizens, convicts and gaolers, turned itself into a proud, prosperous and confident country, the greatest sporting nation on earth, where the citizens of its high-leisure cities enjoy a lifestyle that is the envy of the world.

Genres: History, Australia, Nonfiction, Travel

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Phillip Knightley was a special correspondent for The Sunday Times for 20 years (1965-85) and one of the leaders of its Insight investigative team. He was twice named Journalist of the Year (1980 and 1988) in the British Press Awards. He and John Pilger are the only journalists ever to have won it twice.

He was also Granada Reporter of the Year (1980), Colour Magazine Writer of the Year (1982), holder of the Chef and Brewer Crime Writer’s award (1983), and the Overseas Press Club of America award for the best book on foreign affairs in 1975 (The First Casualty).

He has lectured on journalism, law, and war at the National Press Club, Canberra, ACT; the Senate, Canberra, ACT; City University, London; Manchester University, Queen Elizabeth College Oxford, Penn State, UCLA, Stanford University, California; the Inner Temple, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He is a patron of the C.W. Bean Foundation, Canberra ACT.

His two main professional interests have been war reporting and propaganda and espionage. In more than 30 years of writing about espionage he has met most of the spy chiefs of most of the major intelligence services in the world. He dined with Sir Maurice Oldfireld, head of MI6. He lunched with Sir Dick White, head of MI5 and MI6. He corresponded with both. He lunched with Harry Rositzke, head of the CIA’s Soviet bloc division. He lunched with Lyman Kirkpatrick, the CIA’s Inspector-General. He dined with Leonid Shebarshin, head of the KGB. He lunched with Sergei Kondrashov, chief of KGB counter-intelligence. He had drinks with Markus Wolf, head of East German intelligence. He spent one week in Moscow interviewing the notorious British traitor, Kim Philby. He helped KGB general Oleg Kalugin write the outline for his book. He has met dozens of officers and agents from all sides and has written many articles on espionage. Few writers today have his depth of knowledge of the international intelligence community.

Phillip reviews non-fiction books for The Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Times, The Independent (London) and The Australian’s Review of Books and The Age (Australia). He was a judge for Canada’s Lionel Gelber Prize, the world’s biggest for the best book on international relations. He is European representative of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Washington DC.

He is involved in the the Indian literary and publishing scene and has written columns for several leading Indian newspapers and magazines.

He presented the war reporting documentary to mark the 30th anniversary of This Week; a half-hour documentary on truth for schools’ television; has reviewed the papers for BBC Breakfast TV and many What the Papers Say. He has appeared in many documentaries in Britain, Canada and Australia. He is a judge for Canada’s Lionel Gelber Prize for the year’s best book on international relations ($50,000). He is on the management committee of The Society of Authors, London.

Phillip was born in Australia but has worked most of his life in Britain. He now divides his time between Britain, Australia and India. He is married with three grown-up children and relaxes by playing tennis most days.

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phillip Knightley's Australia: A Biography of a Nation is a hard book to categorize. Parts of it read like dry academic text, parts are very anecdotal, a whole chapter sings the praises of Australian sports teams, and in places the author reminisces about his childhood. Sometimes I was bored (1970s political machinations don't interest me much), and other times I was absorbed (yes, explain to me how in 30 years "White Australia" turned into a multicultural society?). Of all the books I've read in preparation for my upcoming trip to Australia, this one did the best job of showing me WHO the people of the great continent really are. I'm really glad I read it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been in love with the idea of Australia since I was a small child and one of those magazines like Ranger Rick had an article about the wave rocks near Perth.
Then I picked up this book in 2002/2003 and read the first chapters. A government that took care of its people?! Health care that is fiscally manageable for the average person. I was in love. (What’s the term for someone in love with Australia? There are anglophiles and francophiles...)
However I did not get beyond chapter 3 all those years ago and I have to say...it’s a shame I didn’t. I think this book is possibly the best piece of advertisement for Australia I have ever held in my hands.
I also think that in this current climate of Trump and sexism and racism in America this book gives me hope. We had a Whitlam-esque character for 8 years and now we’re suffering under a Hanson-esque leader. I only hope we come out as well as Australia did.

[Žilvinas Zubė · Rating 4 out of 5]

Įsitraukimas ir susidomėjimas, skaitant šią knygą, banguoja. Papasakojama tarsi daug įdomių dalykų: santykių kaita su Didžiąja Britanija, aborigenų diskriminavimas, naikininas ir vėliau įvykęs atsiprašymas, taikyta Baltosios Australijos imigracinė politika, australų dalyvavimas I ir II pasauliniuose karuose, kasdienis narkotikų vartojimas XX amžiuje, besitęsęs svarstymas, ar Australija turi būti anglo, ar multi bei išskirtiniai vietinių charakterių bruožai leidę šaliai tapti išskirtine valstybe. Visgi dažnai nuo lakoniškų istorijų, išgyvenimų aprašymų ir lengvo pasakojimo pereinama prie perdėtai detalaus, nuobodaus politinio proceso, profesinių sąjungų veiklos aprašymo, kuris apart besidominčio istorija australo, tikriausiai yra niekam neįdomus ir verčiantis mesti skaityti šią knygą. Beje reikia atkreipti dėmesį, kad knyga išleista prieš 20 metų, todel pačios naujausios istorijos apžvalgos jose nėra.

Skaitant buvo smagu atrasti, kad Australija taikydama White only imigracinę politiką, siekė prisikviesti į save labiausiai panašius, o tokie gyveno Baltijos šalyse. "The Baltic countries, home of beautiful Balts, were an ideal recruiting ground. (...) There were also a number of natural platinum blondes of both sexes. The men were handsome and women beautiful."

[Vito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about Australian history before reading this book, except maybe that it was discovered by a British guy a bunch of centuries ago, so I was uncertain where to start from. This was a very good choice: I think it's almost impossible to squeeze in many more facts in only 350 pages, and yet it doesn't feel like everything is just crammed in. The author manages to take his space to digress on some subjects and he is also capable of being humorous from time to time -- which, in my opinion, is essential when talking about Australia. With this book I now feel like I have the basics to read more complex books about specific Australian historic events.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not a bad read, I did sort of had to force myself to get through this. The author has a left-wing, republican, & anti-British/anti-American bias which permeates the narrative and while initially tolerable becomes a bit annoying. There's no attempt at historical objectivity - everything is viewed through the lens of a late-20th century man steeped in the modernist ideas of his age.

[Andy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a full and detailed insight into Australia’s history. It did go very deep in some areas and it is long, so if you want a briefer history this wouldn’t be the one.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth picking up for the glorious, hilarious, tragic first chapter alone. Knightley does not pretend to be objective, he's Aussie and very proud of his country and rightly so.

The book works through the history of this, still surprisingly, young nation in an assured manner. Inevitably there are moments when names and dates become tiresome but more often the bare facts are leavened by interesting anecdotes.

Anyone from abroad who has visited Australia will be familiar with their pride in having the biggest, longest, highest, etc of whatever it is you're looking at. Is this to do with being such a young nation or is it because the land itself is of such impressive scale and scope?

Many of the comments on 'modern' Australia (2001) could equally be said of other Western nations - multiculturalism, urban v rural, mental health and so on. However, this is a unique nation and Keating tells its story well as he probes into the reasons for the nation's character.

[Achyut · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book on the flight to Australia when I was visiting the country for the first time. It helped me get a nice overview of the country and its current cultural context.

The book starts, perhaps fittingly so, with the arrival of Europeans in Australia. And indeed,despite all its efforts to integrate its non-white citizens (the book provides interesting details about the non-aboriginal groups in this category), the country is dominated by Caucasian (English, predominantly) culture. This domination definitely extends to all the cultural aspects of Australia that you as a regular tourist will be exposed to.

Worth a breezy read to get a very preliminary feel of the country.

[Zac Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct but diligent discussion of the history of one of the youngest demographics in the world. I see Australia with greater complexity now with its hypocrisies and atrocities but also its conscience and soul, ultimately a story of collective coming of age.
Felt like history done well and scratched a particular itch that had been living in some deep antechamber close to my heart for a while. Just for a second in this deep English midnight I hear the kookaburras call.

[Rachel Welton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overstuffed cushion of politics and history, with the gilt and the grime laid bare. I would have enjoyed it more if the publishers had not decided to use point 8 type. I presume they wanted to condense a 700 page book into 350 pages incase the bulk scared buyers off. I'd rather have tackled the tome and been left without a permanent squint.

[Theres · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd recommend this if you really want to know Australian history (up to 2001 - I'll need to go look for something more recent now). Looks drier than it is! But if you're not that bothered it's probably too much to wade through.

[Sally Edsall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad; a few inaccuracies.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow start at first, but overall, an excellent overview of the country and a perfect way to prepare you for a visit.

[Will JH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Australia’s history, focusing on the years since Federation.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting chapters but a bit of a slog; more military history than I’d expected.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It's interesting and I learnt a lot. I'd've liked one or two photos but overall it's a really good read.

[Jason Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book. Easy to read (though not short). An interesting take from an Aussie born expat in the UK. He's a journalist, but he makes an almost convincing attempt to be objective.

[Dagmar Belesova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew very little about Australian history (especially modern history) and I found this book a revelation. It is written in a very engaging prose and it is fascinating to learn about all these events that shaped the Australia of today. A biography is a fitting choice of a word for a title - he portrays Australia almost as a character, with a unique personality and character, which develops throughout the book. It makes you want to go to country, just to engage with it and discover to what extend it's an accurate description. I'm not sure how it would read to an Australian, or a person more familiar with the events, but as an outsider it very much made me want to find out more. A wonderful book, I wish someone has written a similar biography for my nation.

[Stan Bebbington]

This is not a guide book, it is a highly personal history of the country, affectionate but honest. It covers all the salient features of Australia's climb to nationhood via a strongly polarised series of political, social and industrial developments. Some of which are quite shocking revelations of exploitation and corruption. More Deadwood Gulch than Pugin's Neogothic. It is well written and a good read.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I ordered this for background reading for my University course I was expecting a historical text. Whilst it did go into more historical events later on, it read more like a novel than non-fiction and it was not as detailed as I would have liked. For easy access Australian history pick this up.

[Ianto · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, if non-academic, overview of Australian history and identity since the nineteenth century, with an excellent focus on Aboriginal affairs, and on the evolution of the country's relationship with the United Kingdom. Good for anyone who likes popular history.

[Roger Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading, plenty of anecdotes, excellent on the beginnings of Oz, and very good on the world wars, vietnam and lots of other stuff, including Gough Whitlam. Gets a bit bogged down towards the end. Sympathetic to the Aussies but not craven.

[Kersti Anear · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing eye-opener of a book which has left me questioning everything I thought I knew about my homeland. Highly recommended for all Aussies.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so excited to go to Australia!

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting for the majority of the book, but my interested waned in the last few chapters...

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least enjoyed book of the year. Reads like a novel, when I hoped for a historical book about Australia.