AustLit

'The name of Yorta Yorta elder William Cooper shines bright in the history of Aboriginal activism in Australia between the two world wars. It is linked with the formation of the Australian Aborigines’ League, of which he was the founding secretary; the Day of Mourning on the anniversary of white settlement in 1938; and a petition intended for George V, signed by almost 2,000 Aboriginal people and demanding Aboriginal representation in parliament. This last was perhaps Cooper’s most cherished project. He spent years gathering signatures and waiting for the most opportune moment to present it; his disappointment at the indifferent response of the Australian government darkened his final years.' (Introduction)

'Little of Eliza Fraser’s life was spent in Australia, but her name has become part of its colonised landscape. So, too, has her story. Shipwrecked off the coast of Australia in 1836, she lived for several weeks with local Aboriginal people, the Butchulla, traditional custodians and owners of the island that now bears her name. Her husband perished but Eliza survived, enduring – by her own account – abuse and drudgery before being rescued and restored to civilised society. Sensational accounts of her ordeal ensured her story a lasting place in colonial mythology, reinforced and reinvented in the twentieth century when her ‘captivity’ was made the theme of paintings by Sidney Nolan, a novel by Patrick White, and a memorable 1970s film.'  (Introduction)

Australian lives are intricately enmeshed with the world, bound by ties of allegiance and affinity, intellect and imagination. In Transnational Ties: Australian Lives in the World, an eclectic mix of scholars—historians, literary critics, and museologists—trace the flow of people that helped shape Australia’s distinctive character and the flow of ideas that connected Australians to a global community of thought. It shows how biography, and the study of life stories, can contribute greatly to our understanding of such patterns of connection and explores how transnationalism can test biography’s limits as an intellectual, professional and commercial practice.' (Publisher's blurb)

'History Australia is the official journal of the Australian Historical Association ... [It] aims to reflect the concerns, to publish the research product, and to increase the professional self-awareness of all those historians currently making and applying history in the nation and the community. It publishes refereed articles, debates, reviews of historical works, and news items.'

(Source: History Australia, vol.2 no.2, June 2005)