This short volume presents an up-to-date account of issues and debates in Australian history. It has been conceived and compiled with students and a non-Australian readership in mind. Each chapter gives an overview of the current state of knowledge and the issues of interpretation of concern to Australian historians today. Covering a broad range of topics, leading writers in their fields offer a synthesis of existing work and their own original research that challenges prevailing myths. The result is a succinct appraisal of the exciting and topical issues that inform Australian history-writing in 2005.