My husband and I would like to read a non-fiction, non-tourguide book on Australia before we go next year. Does anyone have a recommendation on a well written/interesting book covering the history of the country and perhaps a present-day analysis or something along those lines? Thanks

I enjoyed reading Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country." There is some history and information, but it is mostly just a fun book to read.

I would also suggest &quot;The Happy Isles of Oceania&quot;, by Paul Theroux. It covers much more than Australia, but I liked it much more than Bryson's book, which is very amusing, but insubstantial (IMO).<BR><BR>Another odd but interesting travelogue-type book is, &quot;Down Under, All Over&quot;, by Barbara Brewster.<BR><BR>Then, there's, &quot;The Road from Coorain&quot;, an autobiography by Jill Conway, who grew up on a remote sheep station, and ended up emigrating to the U.S. later on in life. A fascinating story in its own right, but very descriptive of growing up in the Outback.<BR><BR>Lastly, this book comes highly recommended by a friend that I respect, but I have not read it myself: &quot;Culture Shock - Australia&quot;, by Ilsa Sharp. This is her attempt to describe her country to outsiders in hopes of making it better understood by Australians.

The Fatal Shore by R Hughes (? i think) - excellent history.

Message: Tim Flannery's &quot;The Future Eaters&quot; would have to be compulsive reading for anyone interested in an ecological history of Australia.

Thanks for your help. I will buy several!

Can`t beat Bill Bryson`s &quot;In a sunburnt country.&quot; He is funny as heck, and when I did go to Australia, I went to a lot of the places he did.

I vote for Bill Bryson too. I like the way he writes and I can read his books any time and about any country. <BR>Robert Hughes's 'The Fatal Shore' is heavy going and is designed to give a slant on history in Australia which is the type of thing that is supposed to give white Australians a guilt trip over how the early settlers treated the Aboriginies. Robert Hughes is a self opinionated, &quot;legend in his lunch box&quot; type of person who lives in NY and arrives in Australia every so often to tell us what we should be doing things and how to breath, not to mention when he has to front court for charge he tried to avoid - but he only arrives if and when he has an audience or gets press from it . If you want accurate history that has not been tainted with the almighty chase for the $$$$$ then read Geoffrey Blainey's books ( he is actually a historian) or perhaps the Berndt family who wrote books after living and working with Aboriginals for most of their lives ( they were Anthropologists/ Historians. If you want an amusing up-to- date account then Bill Bryson is your man. Another American, Art Linkletter wrote quite a bit about Australia as he had a cattle station either in W.A or S.A. for many years. The most popular authors who wrote about Australia in the 1930s and onward are Frank Clune and Ion Idriess - the latter is the most collected writer in Australia and he spend most of his time ( they both did) in the outback. For a glimpse of Australian folk history read Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson, both of whom wrote prose, and short stories which epitomised the feeling of the country and the people on the land. Banjo Patterson's story of &quot;The Cast Iron Canvessor(sp?) is an alsolute hoot. You would get much more information about the Australian psyche from these books than from some history lesson about the first English settlers. JMHO for what its worth.

Geoffrey Blainey's &quot;the Tyranny of Distance&quot; is excellent and a good read. John Pilger's &quot;A Secret Country&quot; is impressive. For lighter stuff &quot;Travels in Oz&quot; (I think) by Howard Jacobsen - a Brit married to an Aussie. There's lots of good books. I liked Alice Thompson's &quot;The Singing Line&quot; about the building of the overland telegraph - and Bruce Chatwin &quot;The Songlines&quot; tho it's ages since I read it and not sure now whether you could put it on a &quot;historical&quot; shelf.<BR>It's definitely worth taking the time to read up a bit on the country's past esp if you are not going to be here for long.

By all means read Bill Bryson's &quot; In a Sunburned Country&quot; for a very pleasant introduction to the country's people, history and geography. It was popular with several of the Australians we visited because of its insight and humor. It is sold under a different title, &quot;Down Under&quot;? there but the same kangaroo is on the cover.<BR><BR>After you learn about the First Fleet in &quot;Fatal Shore&quot; you can read about the Second Fleet to arrive in &quot;The Floating Brothel&quot; by Sian Rees. This is well writtten discussion of the effort to add some gender balance to the colony when it was looking for the arrival of supplies to keep it alive.

MY Brilliant Career<BR>Picnic At Hanging Rock both good novels.<BR>Secret Country by John Pilger<BR>and Howard Jacobsen's Travels in Oz