Customer Reviews

The Oxford Companion to Australian History

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"The Oxford Companion to Australian History," revised edition, is edited by Graeme Davison, John Hirst, and Stuart Macintyre. More than 700 pages long, the book is full of alphabetically organized articles. The book's preface notes that the articles range in length from 100 to 2000 words.

The "Companion" is truly vast in scope. Subjects covered include Aboriginal topics (art, history, languages, etc.); people (opera singer Harold Blair, Olympic athlete Betty Cuthbert, suffragist Alice Henry, etc.); cities (Adelaide, Hobart, etc.); newspapers (the "Argus" of Melbourne, the "Canberra Times," etc.); religious bodies and movements (the Uniting Church, etc.); important events (the Cape Grim massacre, the Castle Hill Rising, etc.); political parties; various ethnic groups in Australia, and more.

I particularly appreciated the entries on Australian colloquial terms like "Pommy" and "reffo." There are also many articles that address certain big topics in Australian context: agriculture, censorship, feminism, the film industry, literature, social justice, etc. And interspersed throughout are entries on many other interesting topics: the Bunyip (a mythic animal), convict history, "Waltzing Matilda" (a song), Internet resources, pubs, Vegemite (a food), etc.

Also included: maps, a useful subject index, and a 9-page directory of the book's many contributors. Many bibliographic references are incorporated into the individual entries, making this a good starting place for more in-depth reading on particular topics. The "Companion" is an achievement as big and colorful as Australia itself. While this book is certainly a logical choice for the reference section of any good library, it's also a good book for any individual with an interest in or love for Australia.