In the age of Mabo and the Republic, history is often in the headlines. The past is always with us, not only in debates about land rights and reconciliation, but in national celebrations and demands for national heroes, and in more private and local concerns with family history, historic buildings, and living history museums. Even the forecasts of management experts and the arguments of gun rights activists appeal to the past.
The past can inspire, console and condemn, sometimes all at once, but how do Australians use, and sometimes misuse, the past? What are the private and public purposes it serves, and what dangers attend its abuse?
'The Use and Abuse of Australian History' presents a wide-ranging and perceptive exploration of the many ways in which the past enters everday life in Australia, and is a powerful plea for the imaginative study of history.
