Geoffrey Blainey

Historical account of a voyage to the South Pacific

This account takes the reader from the time Aboriginal people could walk across Bass Strait through to the present day. We learn about the coming of the overlanders with their flocks, some of the biggest gold rushes the world has seen, the boom of the 1880s and the bank crashes that followed. Blainey describes Melbourne's time as the federal capital, and with an extraordinary eye for detail traces Victoria's recovery from drought, depression and bushfire, and considers its transformation from a rural to a cosmpolitan urban society. He speculates on the differences between Sydney and Melbourne, and describes the transformation of a once-puritanical state to today's world of casinos and gambling. He concludes this history with an account of the state's fall from grace, the collapse of the Cain government, the turbulent Kennett years and the rise of the Bracks government.

'Black kettle and full moon' is a guided tour of vanished Australia. It covers the years from the first gold rush to World War 1. Blainey paints a fascinating picture of how our forebears lived and looks at aspects of social life.

A history of Australia based on the ABC television series of the same name.

Maps on lining papers Includes index Bibliography: p 344-357.