Thirty award-winning stories fill this entertaining book. Written by Australian and international authors these stories explore Australian history from the arrival of the British to contemporary events. Each story is based upon a real episode in Australia's past. There is no better way to discover that history is not dead kings and queens and musty, dusty collections of forgettable dates. These award-winning stories bring history to life.
"Commandant Patrick Logan, that bloody, cruel man, was alone. Alone at last. Beautifully and thoroughly alone. Alone in that empty heat-shimmering land that stretched endlessly and emptily away from him, drawing him ever onwards into its embrace, gently leading him away from a people he could hardly call his anymore. A soul and body scarred by war and heavy responsibility bore grim testimony to the fruits of loyalty and service."
— from "Longing for Solitude" by Richard Harvie
“Give us ya docs, f****t,” said the massive skinhead. I had two choices. I could give up my 12-hole cherry Doc Marten’s boots and get the shit kicked out of me or I could run and get the shit kicked out of me."
— from Sussex Street Skins 1986" by James Angus Bond
"The crowd milled and jostled for positions around the scaffold, being held back a few yards by redcoats sweating in their heavy woollen jackets. Thomas struggled to get through the mass of people for a good vantage point. He had never seen a hanging before and his friend Henry said it was a good morning’s entertainment. "
— from "Against the Order of Things" by Michael Wilkinson
