{"product_id":"the-shortest-history-of-australia-paperback","title":"The Shortest History of Australia Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"blurb-full-body bi-blue-links blurb-short\"\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"font-400 c-theme-preset c-theme-preset--normal_text\" data-size=\"normalText\"\u003eThe history of Australia has been written before – but not like this.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Shortest History of Australia\u003c\/i\u003e, Mark McKenna offers a compelling new version of our national story. This is a modern Australia permeated by First Nations history; a multicultural society with an island mindset; a continent of epic beauty and extreme natural events; a country obsessed by war abroad but blind to its founding war at home; and a thriving nation-state still to realise its political independence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMcKenna's wise and humane history reveals the surprising in the familiar, and reframes the past so we can see the present more clearly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Remarkable ... a deeply humane account of who we are and how we came to be' —Larissa Behrendt\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A deeply imaginative, beautifully written and individual book' –Robert Manne\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Original, eloquent and moving – a revelatory journey into the past we thought we knew' –Tom Griffiths\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Mark McKenna's \u003ci\u003eShortest History of Australia\u003c\/i\u003e found a new way to trace this continent of ours. With every page, the kaleidoscope shifted and a new way of seeing emerged.' –\u003ci\u003eAustralian Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'This is a sensitive and scrupulous account that says the cliches about Australian history are failures of imagination.' \u003ci\u003e—The Age\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'One of our most rigorous yet morally engaged historians...conceptually rich as well as a masterclass in concision'. —The Best Books of 2025, \u003ci\u003eThe Saturday Paper\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for The Age Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2026\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"blurb-full-body bi-blue-links\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMark McKenna\u003c\/strong\u003e is one of Australia’s leading historians, based at the University of Sydney. He is the author of several prize-winning books, including \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eLooking for Blackfellas’ Point\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, which won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for nonfiction and the Victorian, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australian premiers’ awards.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMark McKenna\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished August 2026\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaperback\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e304 Pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e198mm x 128mm\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eISBN 9781760645991\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Black Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Mark McKenna","offer_id":59589121441873,"sku":"9781760645991","price":27.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0955\/6464\/files\/9781760645991.jpg?v=1780296235","url":"https:\/\/shop.mhnsw.au\/products\/the-shortest-history-of-australia-paperback","provider":"Museums of History NSW","version":"1.0","type":"link"}