200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

A Shorter History of Australia

3.6 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 376 ratings, 55 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Shorter History of Australia by Geoffrey Blainey provides a condensed exploration of Australia's fascinating history, from its indigenous origins through European colonisation to modern times. Blainey offers insights into significant political, social, and economic changes that have shaped the country. The book presents a captivating narrative that highlights the diverse challenges and triumphs experienced across the centuries.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3500
Elsewhere:
$3800
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're fascinated by Australia's journey through time, from its ancient Indigenous origins to its present-day status. This engaging narrative crafted by Geoffrey Blainey offers a condensed yet vivid exploration of the nation's complex history, making it perfect for those seeking a comprehensive but accessible understanding of Australia's past and cultural evolution.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A broad, and concise vision of Australia and Australians. For this edition Blainey has rewritten or expanded on various episodes and themes, making changes to almost every page. A final chapter summarises key factors that shaped, and still shape, this country's history.

A broad, concise and inclusive vision of Australia and Australians by one our most renowned historians

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A broad, concise and inclusive vision of Australia and Australians by one of our most renowned historians.

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 that 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 and new and old allies; the conflicts of war abroad and race at home; the importance of technology; defining the outback; the rise and rise of the mining industry; 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 and updated relevant matter. He has described significant events and trends of the early 20th century. A ready-reference timeline of major events in Australian history is also included.

A Shorter History of Australia is a must for every home and library.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Geoffrey Blainey's A Shorter History of Australia captivates readers with its engaging narrative style. The text is noted for its fluid prose, enriched by Blainey's unique intelligence, which offers intriguing puzzles, oddities, and comparisons, making the history of Australia both astonishing and entertaining.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780857984388

Publisher: Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 February 2014

Country: Australia

Imprint: Vintage (Australia)

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 327g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Professor Geoffrey Blainey's first book was completed when he was in his early twenties. Since then he has written another thirty-five, including Triumph of the Nomads, The Rush That Never Ended, The Tyranny of Distance and other books on Australia's history. His more recent books on global history, including A Short History of the World, have been translated into many languages and published in places as far apart as Brazil, India, Spain and Turkey. For twenty years he was professor of economic history and then Ernest Scott professor of history at the University of Melbourne, with a term as professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University. He also served the federal government as chairman of the Australia Council, the National Council for the Centenary of Federation, and the Australia-China Council. In New York, in 1988, Blainey received the celebrated Britannica Prize 'for excellence in the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of mankind'.

Also by Geoffrey Blainey

View all
  • Captain Cook's Epic Voyage
    The story of the astonishing voyage of Captain James Cook and the Endeavour, to mark the 250th anniversary of that voyage, and Cook's claim to sovereignty. In 1768, Captain James Cook and his crew set sail on a small British naval vessel, the boldly named Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean. He was ordered to establish an observatory at Tahiti...
    Paperback
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Very Short History of the World
    Following the success of his A Short History of the World, eminent historian Geoffrey Blainey abridged his account of the grand adventure of human history to create an even more accessible version of his absorbing work. A Short History of the World traces the story of the world's people during the last four million years, beginning before the human race...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Story of Australia’s People Vol. I
    Compelling, groundbreaking and brilliantly readable, The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia is the first instalment of an ambitious two-part work and the culmination of the lifework of Australia's most prolific and wide-ranging historian. The vast continent of Australia was settled in two main streams, far apart in time and origin. The first came ashore...
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Story of Australia’s People Vol. II
    The much-anticipated second instalment of Geoffrey Blainey's history of Australia's people—his most ambitious work to date—completes Australia's story from the Gold Rush to the present day. Australia is indeed made up of many peoples, and together their story is one of high drama, courage, and resilience. When the first Europeans crossed the world to settle the vast southern continent that...
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Before I Forget
    Before I Forget is the long-awaited memoir from Professor Geoffrey Blainey, Australia's most significant and popular historian, that tells the story of the first forty years of his life, from his childhood to his career as historian and writer. At home, encircled by books, I assumed that my writing career, so precarious, would flourish... For close to seventy years, Professor...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Causes of War
    Australia’s most famous historian on a freshly essential subject; a classic work updated for our times. The Causes of War is one of Geoffrey Blainey’s most influential books, carried in corridors of power around the world. Covering international wars from 1700 – and now updated to include Ukraine and Gaza – Blainey demolishes many widely-held theories of why nations fight,...
    Hardback
    $5999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Tyranny of Distance
    The Tyranny of Distance is described as "one of the most illuminating books ever written on Australian history" by The Bulletin. This Australian classic, continuously in print since 1967, offers a compelling analysis by Geoffrey Blainey on how distance and isolation have been central to Australia's history and in shaping its national identity. In this fully revised and updated Macmillan...
    Paperback
    $4299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Black Kettle & Full Moon: Daily Life in a Vanished Australia
    In this bestselling book, master storyteller Geoffrey Blainey takes us on an absorbing guided tour of a vanished Australia. Covering the years from the first gold rush to World War I, Blainey paints a fascinating picture of how our forebears lived—in the outback, in towns and cities, at sea, and on land.
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and his Rivals
    Two ships set out in search of a missing continent: the St Jean-Baptiste, a French merchant ship commanded by Jean de Surville, and The Endeavour, a small British naval vessel captained by James Cook. Distinguished historian Geoffrey Blainey tells the story of these rival ships and the men who sailed in them. Just before Christmas 1769, the two captains were...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Browse lists from our team

More from History & Military

View all
  • Behind Enemy Lines
    New Release
    Behind Enemy Lines
    Archie Gibson's initiation into desert warfare almost proved to be his last. Barrelling through the sand dunes at the wheel of his truck, Gibson spied a searing flash of light up ahead, the signature of a feared German 88mm gun firing ... right at him. He leapt from his speeding vehicle just before it was torn apart and turned into...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Cauldron
    How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    19% off
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Race to the Top of the World
    The epic true story of George Mallory and Edmund Hillary and the quest to be the first to conquer Everest. A captivating story of adventure, daring, despair and triumph from Australia's favourite storyteller. Last century, two men, thirty years apart, set out to become the first to conquer the highest point in the world. Their names are synonymous with adventure...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Wager
    THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian 'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator 'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book... It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully...
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Signed
    On Sale
    16% off
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Redwood
    From the multi-million-selling historian, the remarkable, unknown Cold War story of how one spy saved the world from nuclear war. The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the Ayatollah's fledgling Islamist regime. If they do so, one response from America — unknown to the public...
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    30% off
    Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $2800
    Usually:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    23% off
    The Golden Menhir
    Assurancetourix is entering the legendary Gallic bards' competition to win the golden menhir. But with the Romans keeping a close watch, Asterix and Obelix must protect him at all costs. Their mission? Keep him safe-no matter what... even if it means risking their own ears! First released as a book-disc in 1967, this adventure soon became a rare treasure, long...
    Hardback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Castles
    New Release
    Castles
    From the bestselling author of The Templars and Powers and Thrones, Dan Jones returns with Castles: a gripping history of the world told through over three thousand years of iconic strongholds. Castles have been built to defend humanity for millennia – from the walls of Troy and the desert bastion of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, to Windsor Castle and...
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.