Creating Australia

Essays from some of Australia's leading historians showing how Australian history has been rewritten in the past twenty years to accommodate different notions of Australian identity.

Is there an alternative to the 'black armband' view of Australian history? Have historians exaggerated the bad in our history at the expense of the good? Do we need a more positive account of our past?

Creating Australia argues for greater emphasis on the originality and agency of Australians and a greater appreciation of our achievements. It shows how recent historical research on the plurality of Australian experience can in fact contribute to a positive view of our past.

With chapters from some of Australia's leading historians, including Ann Curthoys, Marilyn Lake, Janet McCalman, Peter Read, David Walker and Richard White, Creating Australia points to ways in which Australian history-making is changing and will change further.

'In place of the older argument between the triumphalists and the pessimists, [Hudson and Bolton] propose a process of challenge and response. They seek to promote a re-reading of the standard narratives to allow for pluralism and to embrace inclusion and diversity.' - From the Preface by Professor Stuart Macintyre

Shortlisted, Historical and Critical Studies Prize, Western Australian Premier's Book Awards 1998;

Special Mention, GroupCategory, Centre for Australian Cultural Studies National Awards 1997.