When George William Rusden (1819-1903) was fourteen, his family emigrated from England to Australia, where he later became a prominent educationalist and civil servant. Already an author of numerous books and pamphlets, he began work on his History of Australia after his retirement, and it was published in 1883 in three volumes. Although the work is considered sympathetic to the Aboriginal people of Australia, it is also infused with Rusden's Tory politics, infuriating his critics - one wrote that the volumes were 'as untrustworthy as a partisan pamphlet well can be without deliberate dishonesty'. Despite initial criticism, these wide-ranging volumes form an important early contribution to the writing of Australian history. Volume 2 continues Rusden's examination of earlier governors, starting with Ralph Darling (1772-1858) and ending with George Gipps (1791-1847), before discussing immigration, the end of the practice of transporting prisoners, and the discovery of gold.

When George William Rusden (1819-1903) was fourteen, his family emigrated from England to Australia, where he later became a prominent educationalist and civil servant. Already an author of numerous books and pamphlets, he began work on his History of Australia after his retirement, and it was published in 1883 in three volumes. Although the work is considered sympathetic to the Aboriginal people of Australia, it is also infused with Rusden's Tory politics, infuriating his critics - one wrote that the volumes were 'as untrustworthy as a partisan pamphlet well can be without deliberate dishonesty'. Despite initial criticism, these wide-ranging volumes form an important early contribution to the writing of Australian history. Volume 3 is mainly devoted to political matters, especially the Constitution Act of 1856 and the relationship between the colony and Britain. Rusden also gives a brief sketch of the governors who took office from this period onwards.

Published in 1891, Henry Roth's translation of Crozet's narrative provided the first English account of the infamous French expedition to the South Pacific. The ship left France in 1771 under the command of Marion De Fresne (1724 1772). After exploring Tasmania (the first Europeans to do so), De Fresne's party set out for New Zealand, arriving shortly after Captain Cook. Crozet (1728 1782), took over command of the expedition when De Fresne and twenty-six crew members were killed and allegedly eaten by local Maori in the Bay of Islands. While much of the book is concerned with the exploration of New Zealand, Roth's translation begins with the origins of the expedition, the journey through the Pacific islands, and Tasmania and the discovery of people there, ending with descriptions of Guam and Manila. The work also includes a preface and discussion of the literature of New Zealand by James R. Boose.

John West (1809 1873) was an English-born minister who received a Colonial Missionary Society post in Tasmania in 1838. West became an outspoken opponent of the ongoing government policy of transporting convicts from Britain to Tasmania. Around 1847 a wealthy supporter approached West to write the colony's history, although it had been a British territory only since 1803. West accepted the task and, amid his campaigning and other responsibilities, completed this two-volume work which was published in 1852. It is divided between a straightforward narrative of events and thematic issues such as the treatment of the Aboriginal peoples and the issue of the convict transport system. In Volume 2, the first ten sections discuss the early encounters with Europeans and the subsequent mistreatment of the native people in Tasmania. The remainder of the volume considers the island's development as a penal colony.

John West (1809 1873) was an English-born minister who received a Colonial Missionary Society post in Tasmania in 1838. West became an outspoken opponent of the ongoing government policy of transporting convicts from Britain to Tasmania. Around 1847 a wealthy supporter approached West to write the colony's history, although it had been a British territory only since 1803. West accepted the task and, amid his campaigning and other responsibilities, completed this two-volume work which was published in 1852. It is divided between a straightforward narrative of events and thematic issues such as the treatment of the Aboriginal peoples and the issue of the convict transport system. Volume 1 covers the development of the colony, starting with the arrival of the Dutch in the seventeenth century, who named the island Van Diemen's Land, through to British control and its subsequent settlement as the colony of Tasmania.

Come On Shore and We Will Kill And Eat You All is a sensitive and vibrant portrayal of the cultural collision between Westerners and Maoris, from Abel Tasman's discovery of New Zealand in 1642 to the author's unlikely romance with a Maori man. An intimate account of two centuries of friction and fascination, this intriguing and unpredictable book weaves a path through time and around the world in a rich exploration of the past and the future that it leads to.

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain collected accounts of European voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean between 1492 and 1764. Burney provides summaries of Spanish, Dutch and English accounts, which include descriptions of voyages to China, Micronesia and Australia. Volume 5 covers voyages between 1724 and 1764, including Commodore George Aston's circumnavigation.

This volume of the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations is the first comprehensive study of Australia's role in the peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations that developed at the end of the Cold War. It recounts vital missions including Namibia (1989-90), Iran (1988-90) and Pakistan/Afghanistan (1989-93), and focuses primarily on Australia's reaction to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, including its maritime interception operations, and its controversial participation in the 1991 Gulf War. With exclusive access to Australian Government records and through extensive interviews, David Horner explains the high-level political background to these activities and analyses the conduct of the missions. He brings to life the little-known, yet remarkable stories of many individuals who took part. This is an authoritative and compelling history of how members of the Australian Defence Force engaged with the world at a crucial time in international affairs.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 1862) was a controversial colonial advocate and political theorist, who was the driving force behind the early colonization of New Zealand and South Australia. Barred from entering parliament after serving a three-year sentence in Newgate Prison, Wakefield read widely on contemporary economic and social questions before forming the New Zealand Association in 1837, with the aim of creating a colony in the country based on his theories of systemic colonization. This volume, first published in 1839, contains a detailed description of the New Zealand Association's plans for the formation of a British colony in the country. Published to attract new members and potential colonists to the Association, this volume discusses the natural resources of New Zealand and describes the Association's method of colonisation together with a proposed system of government, providing a valuable practical example of Wakefield's influential theories of colonization.

Edward Jerningham Wakefield (1820 1876) was the son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 1862), who was the driving force behind the early colonization of New Zealand and South Australia, founding the New Zealand Association in 1837 with the aim of creating a colony in that country. His son was appointed secretary of the first settler expedition to New Zealand in 1839, and remained in the colony until 1844. This volume, edited by Sir Robert Stout and first published in 1908, contains Wakefield's account of his stay in New Zealand. He describes in detail the social conditions during the founding of the colony and its explorations in New Zealand, and includes detailed first-hand ethnographic information concerning the Maori tribes the expedition encountered. This volume provides a valuable and fascinating insight into the society and development of one of the earliest colonies of New Zealand.

The publication in 1933 of the Australia volume of the Cambridge History of the British Empire was a landmark in historical interpretation of the nation and its place in the world. To coincide with the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, Cambridge University Press reissued this book in an unaltered edition. For this reissue Professor Geoffrey Bolton contributed a specially commissioned introduction assessing the importance, historical context and legacy of the volume.

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain collected accounts of European voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean between 1492 and 1764. Burney provides summaries of contemporary Spanish, Dutch and English accounts, which include descriptions of voyages to China, Micronesia and Australia. Volume 1 covers voyages between 1492 and 1574, including the voyages of Magellan.

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain collected accounts of European voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean between 1492 and 1764. Burney provides summaries of Spanish, Dutch and English accounts, which include descriptions of voyages to China, Micronesia and Australia. Volume 2 covers voyages between 1579 and 1620, including that of Sir Richard Hawkins.

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain collected accounts of European voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean between 1492 and 1764. Burney provides summaries of Spanish, Dutch and English accounts, which include descriptions of voyages to China, Micronesia and Australia. Volume 3 covers voyages between 1620 and 1688, including the voyages of Abel Tasman.

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain collected accounts of European voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean between 1492 and 1764. Burney provides summaries of Spanish, Dutch and English accounts, which include descriptions of voyages to China, Micronesia and Australia. Volume 4 covers voyages between 1689 and 1723, including accounts of buccaneer expeditions.

Louisa Anne Meredith (1812 1895) had published poetry, journalism, and books on flowers before emigrating to Australia in 1839. Her account of her journey there and her early impressions of the people were somewhat derogatory, and caused considerable offence in Sydney, although the book was widely read both in Australia and in England. However, her lyrical descriptions of nature were extremely popular, and she was also a talented illustrator of her own work. She published some twenty books, and many other writings, making her one of the most commercially successful women writers in Australia. Her My Home in Tasmania (1852) is also reprinted in this series. Her books remain valuable as a source of information on the social history of Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, and also on natural history. For more information on this author, see http: //orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=merelo

George Augustus Selwyn (1809 1878) was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, with Selwyn College, Cambridge later named in his honour. New Zealand was declared an independent British colony in 1841 and the Diocese of New Zealand was established in the same year. After graduating from St. John's College, Cambridge in 1831, Selwyn had been ordained priest in 1834 and consecrated as the first Bishop of New Zealand in 1841. This volume, first published in 1844, contains a series of journals and letters written by Selwyn during his first two years in New Zealand. He provides an intimate and detailed description of the organisation and society of the new colony and the growth of new settlements including Auckland and Wellington. He also describes the landscape and lives of the Maori in remote areas mostly untouched by colonisation, providing a fascinating account of the early history of colonial New Zealand.

Described by the London Chronicle as 'the genteelest thief ever remembered at the Old Bailey', during the 1770s the dandy, actor and pickpocket George Barrington acquired infamy throughout Great Britain. His prosecution and conviction in 1790 merely served to intensify popular interest and ensured that when in 1802 the account of his transportation to Australia was published, reading audiences responded with hearty enthusiasm. After prefacing his volume with a concise and useful history of New South Wales, the author regales readers with tales of murder, theft, punishment and retribution. These bloody episodes, combined with engaging, albeit prejudiced, notes on the indigenous population, found favour with European readers and twenty years of serialisations, new editions and translations followed. Punctuated by quirky vignettes and unusual coloured plates, Barrington's narrative continues to entertain and inform anyone with an interest in British colonial, maritime or criminal history.

Louisa Anne Meredith's account of her life in Tasmania was published in 1852. She was an experienced traveller, and this work is remarkable for being the first detailed account by a woman of life in the colony. Its shrewd observations and descriptive personal narrative make it an engaging read, as well as providing a valuable historical record. A keen botanist and artist, Meredith describes the island's natural life in great detail in beautiful and evocative passages. This first volume covers the journey to the island and her initial impressions of it. Her discussions of 'polite society', politics, prisoner and ex-prisoner populations, the 'white slave' issue, and her attitudes to the island's native people, also provide fascinating examples of colonial attitudes in the period and of how different cultures and backgrounds existed together on the island. For more information on this author, see http: //orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=merel

Louisa Anne Meredith's account of her life in Tasmania was published in 1852. She was an experienced traveller, and this work is remarkable for being the first detailed account by a woman of life in the colony. Its shrewd observations and descriptive personal narrative make it an engaging read, as well as providing a valuable historical record. A keen botanist and artist, Meredith describes the island's natural life in great detail in beautiful and evocative passages. In Volume 2 she provides more anecdotes of her life, including descriptions of the animals she encounters and journeys made within the island. She also covers more social issues, looking at religion and custom in the colony among the settlers and the natives, and closing the book with an examination of Tasmania's industry and trades. For more information on this author, see http: //orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=merel

Eminent biologist Sir Baldwin Spencer (1860 1929) was born in Lancashire but moved to Australia to take up the chair in biology at the University of Melbourne in 1887. As a member of the 1894 Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia, Spencer made the acquaintance of F. J. Gillen, an advocate of Aboriginal rights, with whom he later formed a working partnership. Spencer and Gillen returned to Alice Springs in Central Australia in 1896 1897, to carry out observations on the local Aboriginal tribe, the Arunta. These observations were published in 1899, in The Native Tribes of Central Australia (also reissued in this series), which represented the most comprehensive study of Aboriginal customs and habits. Gillen and Spencer continued to undertake fieldwork until 1903. Volume 1 of Across Australia (published in two volumes in 1912) describes the region's topography, and the customs and beliefs of the Arunta.

Reverend Richard Taylor (1805 1873) was an English missionary, who wrote extensively on Maori culture and the plant and animal life of New Zealand. Taylor graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1828 and was ordained as an Anglican priest the same year. After serving as a curate in the Isle of Ely, Taylor was appointed as a missionary to New Zealand for the Church Missionary Society. He arrived in Australia in 1836 and landed in New Zealand in 1839. Taylor quickly became a peacekeeper between the different Maori tribes in his district. This volume, first published in 1855, provides a detailed account of Maori mythology and culture with a description of the plant life, animal life and geology of the North Island. Taylor strongly condemns contemporary (nineteenth-century) attitudes to Maori culture and demonstrates the complexity of their society in this sympathetic book.

In the early nineteenth century, Australia remained largely uncharted, and doubt prevailed as to its unity as a continent. The 1801 expedition led by English mariner and cartographer Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), on board the Investigator, was groundbreaking in this respect. Flinders' charting of the Australian coastline provided the first complete map outlining the continent, and his influence was decisive in changing its name from Terra Australis to Australia - a term 'more agreeable to the ear'. Structured around daily geographical and astronomical observations, Flinders' journals are remarkable for their humanity and their sense of humour. Started in 1801, they continue to include Flinders' imprisonment by the French in the island of Mauritius between 1803 and 1810. They were first published in 1814, the day before Flinders' death. Volume 1 spans the first two years of the expedition and focuses on the discoveries made along the south coast of the continent.