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The road that led to the inauguration of the Australian nation in
Centennial Park, Sydney, on 1 January 1901 was by no means smooth
travelling. Alfred Deakin later noted that Federation 'must always
appear to have been secured by a series of miracles'. These
'miracles' needed committed Australians to make them happen. But
many individuals who helped to write the Federation story have long
been forgotten. Who were these movers and shakers? What were their
hopes for the fledgling nation? Our founders were an eclectic bunch
of characters, with their own ambitions, dreams and foibles; from
the substantial Reid who liked to offer his seat on the tram to not
one but two ladies, to the cunning orator Parkes whom The Bulletin
cheekily dubbed the 'great hi ham'. Makers of Miracles allows us to
see behind the public activities of these men and women and to
understand their private thoughts and aspirations. It is a book not
so much of politics as of personalities, bringing the creators of
our Commonwealth vividly to life.
Australia and Canada are both lively, multicultural societies with
British constitutional traditions. Historically, they have faced
similar challenges in defining and sustaining citizenship that
reach back into a common past. They also have similar approaches to
address contemporary issues and anticipate the challenges of a 21st
century future. New perspectives on the culture and politics of
citizenship emerge in this timely text that is essential reading
for those interested in the steadily expanding ties between
Australia and Canada.
As questions concerning nationhood and national identity continue
to preoccupy both Canada and Australia, "Shaping Nations" brings
together the work of Australian and Canadian scholars around five
core themes: constitutionalism, colonialism, republicanism,
national identity, and governance.
As questions concerning nationhood and national identity continue
to preoccupy both Canada and Australia, "Shaping Nations" brings
together the work of Australian and Canadian scholars around five
core themes: constitutionalism, colonialism, republicanism,
national identity, and governance.
The editors of this book boldly proclaim that Eureka is Australia's
'greatest story', and they have gathered together some of our
country's finest historians to prosecute the case. Collectively,
they compile a strong argument. In the late 19th century that acute
American observer, Mark Twain, called the Ballarat rebellion 'the
finest thing in Australasian history' and, like all such milestone
moments in any country's expanding tale, Eureka challenges because
of the sheer number of interpretations that have been imposed upon
it, both before Twain and after. During the sesquicentenary year of
Eureka, 2004, one journalist rightly observed that Eureka 'is not
so much history as many versions of history'. The question of who
'owns' the Eureka story is destined never to be answered, but one
thing is certain: the superb Charter of Bakery Hill, an
irresistible sequence of goldfield events leading to tragedy, a
cast of characters drawn straight from a classic novel, violence
and murder on an early Sabbath morning in December 1854, and a
never-ending aftermath that arguably has had more energy within it
in the 20th and 21st centuries than it had in the 19th these
extraordinary elements of a grand narrative will forever stimulate
the Australian imagination. Eureka: Australia's Greatest Story is
certain to stoke the fires.
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