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Freedom on the Fatal Shore brings together John Hirst's two books on the early history of New South Wales. Both are classic accounts which have had a profound effect on the understanding of our history. This combined edition includes a new foreword by the author. Convicts with their "own time", convicts with legal rights, convicts making money, convicts getting drunk - what sort of prison was this? Hirst describes how the convict colony actually worked and how Australian democracy came into being, despite the opposition of the most powerful. He writes: "This was not a society that had to become free; its freedoms were well established from the earliest times." “Colonial Australia was a mor...
Sense and Nonsense in Australian History represents a lifetime's original reflection by Australia's most innovative and penetrating historian. Included here are classic essays on the pioneer legend, Australian egalitarianism and colonial culture. There are celebrated critiques of The Tyranny of Distance, multiculturalism and nationalistic history, as well as a substantial essay on Aboriginal dispossession and the history wars. In Sense and Nonsense in Australian History, John Hirst overturns familiar conceptions and deepens our sense of Australia's development from convict society to distinctive democracy.
Is there an Australian national character? What are its distinguishing features? Over the years, how have insiders and outsiders summed up this country and its people, and how have Australians responded to outside criticism? In The Australians, John Hirst gathers together the key assessments of the national character, on topics as diverse as sport, war, mateship, humour, put-downs, suburbia and going native. There is celebration and criticism. There is humour and insight. There is the difference between what Australians think of themselves and what they are really like. Contributors include Winston Churchill, Ned Kelly, Tim Flannery, Henry Lawson, Peter Cosgrove, Germaine Greer, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Captain James Cook, David Malouf, Mark Twain, H.G. Wells, Patrick White, Oscar Wilde and Tim Winton.
What are the qualities at the heart of Australian culture? How did they arise? What distinguishes us from other nations beyond a fondness for calling each other 'mate'? And what do such national quirks reveal about our society' our past and our attitudes towards it? Looking for Australia is a fascinating collection of essays by historian John Hirst. Together they form a multi - faceted portrait of Australia as a distinctive nation' with its own political culture' character and style' and particular ways of seeing itself. Among other subjects' Hirst considers the effects of convict origins on national character' what drove the bushrangers to their daring deeds' and why Australia has compulsory voting. He examines whether Aborigines played a part in the origins of Australian Rules football' and asks whether Curtin was indeed our greatest prime minister. He discusses how best to tell Australia's history' and' after reflecting on our past as a British dependency' makes a stirring case for a future' fully independent republic.
Celebrated historian John Hirst offers a fascinating exploration of the qualities that made Europe a world-changing civilisation. The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid overview of European civilisation, describing its birth from an unlikely mixture of classical learning, Christianity and German warrior culture. Over the centuries, this unstable blend produced highly distinctive characters – pious knights and belligerent popes, romantics spouting folklore and revolutionaries imitating Rome – and its coming apart provided the dynamic of European history in modern times. Accompanied by lively illustrations, The Shortest History of Europe is a clear, humorous and thought-provoking account of a remarkable civilisation. This new edition brings the story into the present, covering the world wars and beyond. ‘Crisp, lucid and evocative’ —Australian Book Review
If there are genuine questions about Australian history, there is something to puzzle over. The history ceases to be predictable—and dull. From the author of The Shortest History of Europe, acclaimed historian John Hirst, comes this fresh and stimulating approach to understanding Australia's past and present. Hirst asks and answers questions that get to the heart of Australia's history: Why did Aborigines not become farmers? How did a penal colony change peacefully to a democracy? Why was Australia so prosperous so early? Why did the Australian colonies federate? What effect did convict origins have on national character? Why was the postwar migration programme a success? Why is Australia ...
Our vision for the lost never changes, but the means we use to reach out are always advancing. James Reapsome and Jon Hirst have packed this handbook with practical innovations for those already at work in the field.
These notes were first used in an introductory course team taught by the authors at Appalachian State University to advanced undergraduates and beginning graduates. The text was written with four pedagogical goals in mind: offer a variety of topics in one course, get to the main themes and tools as efficiently as possible, show the relationships between the different topics, and include recent results to convince students that mathematics is a living discipline.
'...this poignant and disarming story is full of heart and its crescendo will give you tingles' Attitude Magazine 'Outstanding' Irish Examiner Sam has known his sister Jessica all his life. Tonight is the first time they're going to meet. Sam Waver has always been a loner: bullied, struggling at school, with parents who have very little time for him. The one person he has always been able to rely on is his beloved older sibling - but when they announce that they are transitioning, Sam's life is thrown upside down. He's convinced nothing will ever be the same again - but as Sam is about to discover, nothing is more constant than love. A moving and heartfelt portrait of one family's journey to acceptance, from a master storyteller. 'A story with so much heart that the pages practically pulse. Both funny and moving... this is a must-read for all ages' Irish Independent
This work explores what sort of democracy Australians have made. It traces the establishing of democratic rights and freedoms from convict times until the present; from the era when racism limited political rights to today's concern that everyone's human rights be respected; from the demand that governments be free to carry out the people's wishes to the current desire to see all government power checked and controlled. It also examines notable Australian innovations like the secret ballot and the basic wage.