This history aims to show the influences that shaped the Australian identity. Presented in three sections, entitled 'The Fall of Black Australia', 'The Land I Love,' and 'From Gallipoli to Mabo', the author gives an overview of major events in Australian history from the arrival of the Aborigines approximately 50,000 years ago, to the present. Includes a chronology, suggestions for further reading, and an index. The author is chancellor of the University of Ballarat, and former Enest Scott professor of history at the University of Melbourne. His many publications include 'The Tyranny of Distance' and 'Triumph of the Nomads'.