A Shorter History of Australia

Geoffrey Blainey

Feb 2010 · Bolinda · Narrated by Humphrey Bower

About this audiobook

After a lifetime of research and debate on Australian and international history, Geoffrey Blainey is well placed to introduce us to the people who have played a part and to guide us through the events which have created the Australian identity: the mania for spectator sport, the suspicion of the tall poppy, the rivalries of Catholic and Protestant, Sydney and Melbourne, new and old homelands, the conflicts of war abroad and race at home, the importance of technology, the recognition of our Aboriginal past and Native Title, the successes and failures of the nation. For this enlarged edition Blainey has rewritten or expanded on various episodes and themes, making changes to almost every page. He has described significant events and trends of the early 20th century. A final chapter summarises key factors that shaped and still shape this country's history.

Ratings and reviews

Thoroughly enjoyable and very interesting. Always love listening to Humphrey Bower bring a book to life.

An entertaining, fascinating and balanced history of Australia.

About the author

Geoffrey Blainey is one of Australia's most significant and popular historians. He has written some thirty-six full-length books including The Tyranny of Distance, Triumph of the Nomads, Black Kettle and Full Moon, A Short History of the 20th Century, and the bestselling A Short History of the World. Professor Blainey held chairs in economic history and then in plain history at the University of Melbourne for twenty-one years. He was a delegate to the 1998 Constitutional Convention and also chaired various Commonwealth government bodies, including the Australia Council, the Literature Board, the Australia-China Council, and the National Council for the Centenary of Federation. He is one of the few Australians whose biography appears in Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Humphrey Bower is a gifted and versatile actor. Since obtaining a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature at Oxford University, he has worked extensively in theatre, television and audiobook narration. Humphrey won the prestigious Audie Award (US) for his performance of The Family Frying Pan by Bryce Courtenay, and was shortlisted for an Audie Award for his performances of Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan and Brother Fish by Bryce Courtenay. Humphrey's sensitive and intelligent readings are highly regarded and he is well-known for his capacity to perform a variety of accents.