Documents That Shaped Australia

Records of a Nation's Heritage: 1516 - 2008

Spanning more than 400 years, from the first documented sighting of the Southern Cross in 1516 to the Rudd Government's national apology of 2008, this anthology presents in chronological form a richly varied spectrum of 100 historical documents that, like pieces in a mosaic, contribute to a broad understanding of some of the key moments in Australia's history.

John Thompson's diverse and eclectic selection, illustrated with facsimile documents, portraits, maps and photographs of related events, draws on a range of historical texts: journal and diary entries; official commissions; charters and proclamations; speeches of various kinds; letters and cables; newspaper editorials, press announcements and despatches written by journalists; petitions; Acts of Parliament; court judgements; and manifestos.

While some key documents are linked to major historical events the landing of the Anzacs at Gallipoli or the Australian declaration of war against Germany in 1939 others are a more personal response to some larger issue or event, such as an 1852 letter from a miner on the goldfields.

Among many other treasures, the reader will also find an early version of the greatly loved words of Dorothea Mackellar's poem 'My Country' (written originally as 'Core of my Heart'); a letter written by the young Miles Franklin to the Bulletin editor J.F. Archibald in 1901 on the publication of her novel My Brilliant Career; and an edited extract from Ned Kelly's Jerilderie letter.