Australia's Empire

by Deryck Schreuder (Editor), Stuart Ward (Editor)

Overview

This is the first major collaborative reappraisal of Australia's experience of empire since the end of the British Empire itself.

The volume examines the meaning and importance of empire in Australia across a broad spectrum of historical issues-ranging from the disinheritance of the Aborigines to the foundations of a new democratic state. The overriding theme is the distinctive Australian perspective on empire. The country's adherence to imperial ideals and aspirations involved not merely the building of a 'new Britannia' but also the forging of a distinctive new culture and society. It was Australian interests and aspirations which ultimately shaped "Australia's Empire".

While modern Australians have often played down the significance of their British imperial past, the contributors to this book argue that the legacies of empire continue to influence the temper and texture of Australian society today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199273737
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/15/2008
Series:	Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series , #6
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.45(h) x 1.01(d)

About the Author

Professor Deryck M Schreuder is currently Chair of the Australian Universities' Quality Agency and previously Vice Chancellor of two Australian universities, President of the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee, and President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Australian Historical Association. An Oxford Rhodes Scholar, he was a founding Professor in History at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario and 4th Challis Professor of History in The University of Sydney. He has published widely in British imperial and colonial studies.

Professor Stuart Ward (Ph.D., Sydney) holds an Associate Professorship at the University of Copenhagen, and is currently a visiting researcher at the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies in London. He is the author of Australia and the British Embrace: The Demise of the Imperial Ideal (2001); and he has edited British Culture and the End of Empire (2001). He is co-editing a documentary history of Australia's changing ties to Britain in the decolonisation era, as well as researching a major study of "The End of Greater Britain."

Table of Contents

Introduction: What Became of Australia's Empire?, Deryck M. Schreuder and Stuart WardPart I Contact: The projection of empire1. The Saga of Captain Cook, Hobbles Danaiyarri2. Conquest, Alan Atkinson3. Settling the Land: The Making of Rural Australia, Richard Waterhouse4. Indigenous Subjects, Ann Curthoys5. New Visions from Old: Art and the Environment, Anne GrayPart II Dynamics: The instruments of empire6. Empire, State, Nation, John Hirst7. Migrations: The Career of White British Australia, Eric Richards8. Religion and Identity, Hilary M. Carey9. Money: Trade, Investment and Australian Nationalism, Geoffrey Bolton10. Security: Defending Australia's Empire, Stuart WardPart III Cultures: An imagined empire11. Monarchy: From Reverence to Indifference, Mark McKenna12. War and Commemoration: The Responsibility of Empire, Joy Damousi13. Gender and Sexuality, Angela Woollacott14. Popular Culture, Richard White and Hsu-Ming Teo15. In History's Page: Identity and Myth, Neville MeaneyEpilogue: After Empire, Deryck M. Schreuder and Stuart Ward

Editorial Reviews

''This is an important book. It will be seen by many readers as challenging or stimulating...To my knowledge this theme, so wide in its span, has not previously been attempted with such comprehensiveness'' -- Geoffrey Blainey, The Australian Newspaper

''It is part of the unfashionability of the topic that nothing on quite this scale has been attempted since the 1930s. The editors have marshalled an impressive array of talent... [to produce] a fine volume'' -- Jim Davidson, The Age Newspaper

''Deryck Schreuder and Stuart Ward, are both recognised authorities on the subject, and both have done work beyond Australia that enables them to appreciate its distinctive characteristics. The contributors include leading historians who develop their topics with assurance...Together with the editorial introduction and epilogue, these make a persuasive case for bringing the imperial dimension back into Australian historiography'' -- Stuart MacIntyre, The Australian Book Review

From the Publisher