The Italians comprised the first truly large wave of immigrants to have arrived from Southern Europe after World War II. Today, people of Italian background in Australia number around one million. The Italians have made an enormous contribution to the development of Australian society through the twentieth century and to the present, and Gianfranco Cresciani - the country's foremost expert on Italian life in Australia - provides the definitive account. In this 2003 edition Cresciani brings to life the important story of the Italo-Australian community into the twenty-first century.