Enlarge Cover
Media/Desk Copy Request
From one of Australia’s leading historians, the compelling story of a singular nation still realizing its independence and influence on the global stage
As a land associated with extremes—from remote desert terrain to some of the world’s deadliest creatures—few countries feel as geographically and culturally independent as Australia.
While pop-culture references to endless summers proliferate, it’s the lesser-acknowledged eras of Australian history that contribute to a complex and still-evolving definition of nationhood: settlements and expansions, indigenous rights movements, and contemporary environmental challenges among them.
Sharp and of-the-moment, The Shortest History of Australia reveals surprising nuances in the familiar national narrative. Historian and professor Mark McKenna’s concise, compelling account paints a portrait of a country still learning the extent of its political independence, reckoning with its past, and looking toward an ever-shifting future of politics, identity, and influence.
“A deeply imaginative, beautifully written, individual and original book.”—Robert Manne, Emeritus Professor of Politics, La Trobe University
“McKenna’s approach to writing the past, present, and future of Australia is deeply considered and precisely crafted.”—Readings
“Mark McKenna’s The Shortest History of Australia found a new way to trace this continent. . . . With every page, the kaleidoscope shifted and a new way of seeing emerged.”—Australian Book Review
“The Shortest History of Australia has impressive breadth. Somehow in its pages not only is a history told but yesteryear’s jingoistic myths are dispelled.”—The Saturday Paper
“This is a sensitive and scrupulous account that says the cliches about Australian history are failures of imagination.”—The Age
“Original, eloquent, and moving—a revelatory journey into the past we thought we knew.”—Tom Griffiths, professor of information technology, consciousness, and culture, Princeton University
“In this remarkable book, Mark McKenna offers a concise yet richly layered portrait of Australia. Thoughtful, reflective, and inclusive, The Shortest History of Australia doesn’t flatten the past into a single story, but traces the many threads—First Nations, settler, migrant—that have shaped the nation. With great sensitivity, McKenna also ensures that the country itself—the land, its extremes, and its beauty—is a character, shaping the Australian spirit as much as any historical force. He explores both the tensions that remain and the spirit that endures, offering readers a deeply humane and optimistic account of who we are and how we came to be.”—Larissa Behrendt, distinguished professor of law, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate
