'White sets himself a most ambitious task, and he goes remarkably far to achieving his goals. Very few books tell so much about Australia, with elegance and concision, as does his' - Professor Michael Roe 'Stimulating and informative. an antidote to the cultural cringe' - Canberra Times 'To be Australian': what can that mean? Inventing Australia sets out to find the answers by tracing the images we have used to describe our land and our people - the convict hell, the workingman's paradise, the Bush legend, the 'typical' Australian from the shearer to the Bondi lifesaver, the land of opportunity, the small rich industrial country, the multicultural society. The book argues that these images, rather than describing an especially Australian reality, grow out of assumptions about nature, race, class, democracy, sex and empire, and are 'invented' to serve the interests of particular groups. There have been many books about Australia's national identity; this is the first to place the discussion within an historical context to explain how Australians' views of themselves change and why these views change in the way they do.

This short biography outlines the scope of Davitt's great interests and achievements

This pioneering 2006 volume addresses the question of how Britain's empire was lived through everyday practices - in church and chapel, by readers at home, as embodied in sexualities or forms of citizenship, as narrated in histories - from the eighteenth century to the present. Leading historians explore the imperial experience and legacy for those located, physically or imaginatively, 'at home,' from the impact of empire on constructions of womanhood, masculinity and class to its influence in shaping literature, sexuality, visual culture, consumption and history-writing. They assess how people thought imperially, not in the sense of political affiliations for or against empire, but simply assuming it was there, part of the given world that had made them who they were. They also show how empire became a contentious focus of attention at certain moments and in particular ways. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of modern Britain and its empire.

Looks at the lives and politics of four of the key players in the independence and labour movements of the 19th century: Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847); Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-91); Michael Davitt (1846-1906); and James Bronterre O'Brien (1805-64). Volume 3 looks at the life of Michael Davitt.

This is a book about Irish nationalism and how Irish nationalists developed their own conception of the Irish race. Bruce Nelson begins with an exploration of the discourse of race--from the nineteenth--century belief that "race is everything" to the more recent argument that there are no races. He focuses on how English observers constructed the "native" and Catholic Irish as uncivilized and savage, and on the racialization of the Irish in the nineteenth century, especially in Britain and the United States, where Irish immigrants were often portrayed in terms that had been applied mainly to enslaved Africans and their descendants. Most of the book focuses on how the Irish created their own identity--in the context of slavery and abolition, empire, and revolution. Since the Irish were a dispersed people, this process unfolded not only in Ireland, but in the United States, Britain, Australia, South Africa, and other countries. Many nationalists were determined to repudiate anything that could interfere with the goal of building a united movement aimed at achieving full independence for Ireland. But others, including men and women who are at the heart of this study, believed that the Irish struggle must create a more inclusive sense of Irish nationhood and stand for freedom everywhere. Nelson pays close attention to this argument within Irish nationalism, and to the ways it resonated with nationalists worldwide, from India to the Caribbean.

A History of South Australia investigates the state's history from before the arrival of the first European explorers to today.

Like many 19th century Irish immigrants, Thomas McCarthy Fennell arrived in the United States to start a new life. Unlike other Irishmen, however, Fennell arrived on America’s West coast by ship. He was a thirty year old ex-convict recently discharged from an Australian prison. As a condition of release he could not return to his native land. His crime? Treason, or as the Crown’s trial judge put it, “compassing” against Queen Victoria. In the tumultuous 1860s Fennell organized Fenians – Irish and Irish-American Nationalists who sought by force to rid Ireland of Britain’s dominance. He fought and was wounded in the 1867 Uprising, hardly a footnote in history, yet England’s great Prime Minister, Gladstone, would refer to it as “the first streak of dawn.” And indeed it added to the foundation that would eventually lead to the Republic of Ireland. Fennell was transported to Australia on the last prison ship dispatched there by Britain, the Hougoumont, a converted merchant vessel. On board for three months with 280 other convicts, Fennell and a small group of Fenians including John Boyle O’Reilly and John Sarsfield Casey (The Galtee Boy) stayed together. They prayed, sang and entertained each other. They even published a weekly newspaper. Fennell was in Western Australia, a colony that wanted convict labor, for over three years; first at Fremantle Prison and then on a chain gang. Pardoned in 1871 by Victoria, he made his way to America where he eventually settled in Elmira, New York. He remained active in the movement and was the one to propose the famous Catalpa Rescue of 1876. This is the true story of Fennell’s incarceration, in his own words. Here he describes the humiliations and horrors of being a political prisoner thrown in with murderers, rapists and other criminals of the worst kind. He recounts floggings, daily strip searches and death at sea. Yet he and his fellow Fenians triumphed in the end, and Fennell would write his story. Now, Fennell’s 70,000 word manuscript is available to the public for the first time. Articles by Walter McGrath and Matthew Bermingham accompany the text, along with other supplementary information, extensive footnotes, photographs and illustrations. What’s being said about this book - “With a useful introductory essay, the editorial annotations, a good selection of illustrations, a selection of Fenian poetry and a number of articles to provide context, Fennell and King have made a valuable contribution to Western Australian history." H.A. Willis, The West Australian “You are to be congratulated on the high standard of the edition. It will be an important addition to the National Library’s collection.” Noel Kissane, Keeper of the Manuscripts National Library of Ireland “To have a record of daily life in the Prison during the 19th century and in such detail – is of inestimable value to us.” Rob Besford,Fremantle Prison, WA "This voyage is of additional significance as it brought the last shipload of convicts to the Australian penal settlement." The Irish Times “I’d like to compliment you on bringing such a wonderful new source of Fenian biography to light so expertly.” Keith Amos, author of The Fenians In Australia “I am pleased to add this to our collection as it will be extremely useful for research on the Fenians. There are so few first hand accounts of convict/Fenian life, making this all the more important.” David Whiteford, The Battye Library, Australia “Marie King and Philip Fennell have combined their efforts to provide historical context and then present the purest form of these memoirs.” John Benson, Pawling News Chronicle

This book explores the emergence of 'Australasia' as a way of thinking about the culture and geography of this region. Although it is frequently understood to apply only to Australia and New Zealand, the concept has a longer and more complicated history. 'Australasia' emerged in the mid-18th century in both French and British writing as European empires extended their reach into Asia and the Pacific, and initially held strong links to the Asian continent. The book shows that interpretations and understandings of 'Australasia' shifted away from Asia in light of British imperial interests in the 19th century, and the concept was adapted by varying political agendas and cultural visions in order to reach into the Pacific or towards Antarctica. The Making and Remaking of Australasia offers a number of rich case studies which highlight how the idea itself was adapted and moulded by people and texts both in the southern hemisphere and the imperial metropole where a range of competing actors articulated divergent visions of this part of the British Empire. An important contribution to the cultural history of the British Empire, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Studies, this collection shows how 'Australasia' has had multiple, often contrasting, meanings.