The Complete Story of Our Nation - the People, Places and Events of a Thrilling Century.
The 'Chronicle of Australia' illuminates this land and people, not with the sombre glow of historical study, but with lightning flashes of news and pictures that bring story after story, time after time, into sharp and sudden focus. In a graphic year-by-year coverage, battles, political clashes, stories of heroism and natural disaster - all sorts of dramas - are played out. They are mixed with the lightness of theatre, film, music, literature and art, great sporting names and contests, fads and fashions - the very essence of the changing times.
Australia reaches an important milestone with the centenary of Federation on January 1, 2001. A nation merely 100 years old, resting on a post-European settlement history scarcely longer, celebrates its place as a rapidly evolving country in the forefront of the world's democracies.
Our ancient times are, however, more mysterious. The coming of the Europeans changed and disrupted the Aboriginal people, their lives and rituals. Through archaeological study and stories from the Aboriginal Dreaming we know of their skills, their kinship, their deification of the land and its natural inhabitants. The cruel facts of dispossession and alienation from their land are part of the hard news of the 'Chronicle Of Australia', extending into recent stories on Native Title, the Stolen Generation and the call for Reconciliation.
The year-by-year coverage in this stunning book carries over 10,000 news items and 3,000 illustrations, and whether you're reading for reference or entertainment, you'll find yourself caught up in the wondrous variety of people and stories.
