John Hirst

A historian like no other, John Hirst captured what is distinctive about Australia. John Hirst was one of Australia's most original and substantial historians. He changed views of many aspects of the nation's history, including the early days of the British colony, the advent of democracy, and the forging of Federation. He had a sociological imagination of great power, and...

Celebrated historian John Hirst offers a fascinating exploration of the qualities that made Europe a world-changing civilisation. The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid overview of European civilisation, describing its birth from an unlikely mixture of classical learning, Christianity, and German warrior culture. Over the centuries, this unstable blend produced highly distinctive characters—pious knights and belligerent popes, romantics...

This work explores what sort of democracy Australians have made. It traces the establishing of democratic rights and freedoms from convict times until the present; from the era when racism limited political rights to today's concern that everyone's human rights be respected; from the demand that governments be free to carry out the people's wishes to the current desire to...