A Short History of Australia: Manning Clark (engl.) 260 S. illustrated ed.

In this lively, very readable book, the eminent and controversial historian Manning Clark portrays the evolution of Australia with remarkable breadth of vision. He begins with the Aborigines and the coming of white men, then traces the progress of the First Fleet to Botany Bay, the unfurling of the British flag in January 1788 to the accompaniment of a regimental band, and Governor Arthur Phillip's harangue to the convicts in his charge. With a provocative style the author describes convicts and settlers, architecture, exploration, immigrants and squatters, politics and culture, the gold rushes, radicals and nationalists, the world wars. The incisive concluding chapter deals with the years from 1969 to 1986 - Manning Clark's 'age of ruins.' This elegantly written and well-illustrated book brings to life the people and events that have shaped Australia's history.

Born in Sydney in 1915, Manning Clark won scholarships to Melbourne Grammar School and the University of Melbourne. He later attended Balliol College, Oxford, and in the early 1940s taught history at schools in England and Australia. He was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne and, later, Professor of History in the School of General Studies, Australian National University. In 1972 he became the first Professor of Australian History and was awarded honorary doctorates by the Universities of Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney. His classic text, the six-volume History of Australia (1962-1987) popularised the study of Australian history. In June 1975, Clark was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, in recognition of his writing of the History, and was named Australian of the Year in 1980. He is the author of the two volume autobiography: The Puzzles of Childhood (1988) and The Quest for Grace (1989). Professor Clark died in May 1991.