I know that many people find Australian history dull and predictable. They get too much of it at school and if they are still interested in history at adulthood they turn with relief to The Tudors on the BBC and to the books of Simon Schama, Niall Ferguson or Jared Diamond.
I was conscious of the challenge I faced when a branch of the University of the Third Age in Melbourne asked me to lecture on Australian history. I had lectured with success to several branches on European history, repeating the lectures I gave at university and which became the book The Shortest History of Europe. How could I match that for Australian history? I offered four lectures under the heading ‘Four Questions in Australian History’. If there are genuine questions about Australian history, there is something to puzzle over. The history ceases to be predictable—and dull. These lectures too were well received, which encouraged me to add a few more questions and make a book in this style.
By this route I have reached the same point as I did when considering how best to present European history. In both cases I have departed from a straightforward narrative in favour of a more thematic treatment. Narrative can make history a good read, but it can also leave unanswered the questions ‘What makes this society distinctive?’ and ‘Why did its history take this course?’
The answers to the questions that this book poses can be read separately. Taken together, I hope they provide as good a guide to Australian society as the more orthodox histories, or an even better one. It is unquestionably a much shorter book than the usual.
I owe a debt to that excellent institution the University of the Third Age for setting me on this path. Lotte Mulligan, who was a colleague when we were both at La Trobe University, now has a second academic life as the organiser of studies at the Stonnington branch of the University of the Third Age. She has been a great supporter of my efforts and the chief urger for this book to be written. To her my thanks.
Question 1 is new territory for me. I am very grateful to Professor Peter Bellwood of the Australian National University, a world expert in this field, for looking over and correcting my chapter. Professor Ann McGrath, also at the Australian National University and a former student of mine, helped me with Aboriginal life in the Northern Territory. I talked over James Belich’s book on the Anglo-world with Professor Graeme Davison, and he kindly read Chapter 3.
John Hirst
December 2013