Looking for Australia

In these fascinating essays, John Hirst delves into Australia's history, politics and society. He considers whether Curtin was indeed our greatest prime minister and tells the story of how Australia introduced the secret ballot and compulsory voting. He selects the best history books and explores the idea that Australian Rules has its origins in Aboriginal pastimes. He discusses the process of writing the official history for new citizens, reflects on Australia's past as a British dependency and its possible future as a republic. And he examines our convict legacy, its contribution to the national character, and our peculiar adoption of bushmen and bushrangers as popular heroes. This collection of writing is a companion and successor to the bestselling Sense and Nonsense in Australian History.

John Hirst is the author of numerous books, including The Australians: Insiders and Outsiders on the National Character Since 1770, Sense and Nonsense in Australian History, Freedom on the Fatal Shore: Australia's First Colony and The Shortest History of Europe.