A traveller's history of Australia / John H. Chambers ; series editor, Denis Judd ; line drawings, John Hoste.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chambers, John H., 1939-

Series:

Traveller's history

The traveller's history series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Australia--History.

Australia.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 347 pages : illustrations, maps ; 20 cm.

Edition:

Second edition, fully revised and updated, first American edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Interlink Books, 2002.

Summary:

A Traveller's History of Australia is essential reading for tourists, or anyone interested in Australia and its amazing diversity. This book gives a complete account of that great southern democracy from the arrival of the earliest Aborigines some fifty or sixty thousand years ago, to the present day. The ancient Aboriginal way of life is described; the vast deserts and fertile coastal plains, treacherous climate and peculiar marsupial animals; early European sightings; and the establishment of the British convict colony in 1788, which dragged the continent into the modern world.

The dynamic story of Australia is continued into the twentieth century with its role in two world wars, the post-war discoveries of huge mineral deposits, and the influx of Southern European migrants who changed the country's ethnic make-up. Australia's courting of Asia in recent decades, the return of vast areas of land to the Aborigines and its confident cultural vibrancy in wine, food, film and art are all analyzed in the final chapter. A Historical gazetteer highlights the chief places of interest for tourists. The book concludes with two intriguing appendices: why boomerangs return and the peculiarities of kangaroo physiology.

Contents:

Introduction: Two Beginnings 1

Chapter 1 The Physical Environment 3

Chapter 2 Aboriginal Australia 11

Chapter 3 Europeans Arrive 36

Chapter 4 The Convict System and the Growth of the First Two Colonies 60

Chapter 5 New Britannias: Cities and Colonies all around the Coast 86

Chapter 6 Explorers and Squatters: the Demise of Black Australia 112

Chapter 7 Economic Development: 1850-1900 140

Chapter 8 Democracy and Nationalism: 1820-1900 172

Chapter 9 The Early Federation, the Great War, the 1920s and '30s 203

Chapter 10 World War II and Post-war Changes to 1972 228

Chapter 11 Politics, the Economy, and Culture since 1972 258

Appendix 1 Adaptation of the Red Kangaroo to the Environment 297

Appendix 2 Why Boomerangs Return 300

Governors-General, Governors, and Premiers 301

Prime Ministers 307

Historical Gazetteer 318

Physical map of Australia 5

Sahul and important archaeological sites 13

Voyage of the First Fleet, 1787-88 50

The evolution of colonial and state boundaries showing capital cities 88

Long-distance exploration 114

The route of the overland telegraph line 123

The main mining districts: historical and contemporary 166

Modern map of Australia 260

Major Aboriginal lands 288.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-317) and index.

ISBN:

1566564247

OCLC:

49040811