'A bold and expansive history that traces the changing and contested project of Australia's national story. You will think about this country differently after reading this book.
'Australian history has been revised and reinterpreted by successive generations of historians, writers, governments and public commentators, yet there has been no account of the ways it has changed, who makes history, and how. Making Australian History responds to this critical gap in Australian historical research.
'A few years ago Anna Clark saw a series of paintings on a sandstone cliff face in the Northern Territory. There were characteristic crosshatched images of fat barramundi and turtles, as well as sprayed handprints and several human figures with spears. Next to them was a long gun, painted with white ochre, an unmistakable image of the colonisers. Was this an Indigenous rendering of contact? A work of history?
'Each piece of history has a message and context that depends on who wrote it and when. Australian history has swirled and contorted over the years- the history wars have embroiled historians, politicians and public commentators alike, while debates over historical fiction have been as divisive. History isn't just about understanding what happened and why. It also reflects the persuasions, politics and prejudices of its authors. Each iteration of Australia's national story reveals not only the past in question, but also the guiding concerns and perceptions of each generation of history makers.
'Making Australian History is bold and inclusive- it catalogues and contextualises changing readings of the past, it examines the increasingly problematic role of historians as national storytellers, and it incorporates the stories of people.' (Publication summary)
Author's note:
In memory of Stuart Macintye 1947-2021
'The intention of this book is clearly stated on the first page, immediately following the acknowledgement of Country. Anna Clark sets out to document the role of the capital ‘H’ History discipline – that taught in schools and universities, with its formal qualifications and professional bodies – in the colonisation of Australia. She also seeks to identify other forms of history-making that have told the story of the continent and its people over millennia and to explore ways in which historical reconciliation could occur as part of wider processes of individual and collective healing.' (Introduction)
'This book is a lyrical, meditative exploration of the making and re-making of Australian History. In particular, it ponders the place of Australian ‘History’ as a scientific, evidence-based discipline bound up with nationhood and national identity, themes felt perhaps strongly with self-conscious colonisation in 1788, the ‘progress’ of nineteenth-century frontiers, the cause of Federation, and of course throughout the long echoes of the History Wars since the early 2000s.' (Introduction)
'Anna Clark could have titled her book “Remaking Australian History”, for that is its narrative arc.'
(Introduction)
'Anna Clark set out to write the history of Australian history. In grappling with the past, she faced up to the giants in her own family.'
(Introduction)
'Anna Clark could have titled her book “Remaking Australian History”, for that is its narrative arc.'
'This book is a lyrical, meditative exploration of the making and re-making of Australian History. In particular, it ponders the place of Australian ‘History’ as a scientific, evidence-based discipline bound up with nationhood and national identity, themes felt perhaps strongly with self-conscious colonisation in 1788, the ‘progress’ of nineteenth-century frontiers, the cause of Federation, and of course throughout the long echoes of the History Wars since the early 2000s.' (Introduction)
