This book gives a complete account of the history of Australia from the arrival of the earliest Aborigines some fifty or sixty thousand years ago to the present day. The ancient Aboriginal way of life is described as well as the landscape they lived in; the vast deserts and fertile coastal plains, the treacherous climate and peculiar marsupial animals. Early European sightings led many years later to the establishment of the British convict colony in 1788 which dragged the continent into the madern world. The story of Australia is continued in the twentieth century with its role in two world wars, the post war discoveries of huge mineral deposits and the influx of southern European migrants who changed the country's ethnic make-up. The final chapter deals with Australia's recent courting of Asia, the return of vast areas of land to the Aborigines and the development of a new cultural confinence involving excellent wine and food as well as film and art. John Chambers has travelled widely and has five degrees and several diplomas from universities on three continents.
