In The Shortest History of Australia, 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.

McKenna's wise and humane history reveals the surprising in the familiar, and reframes the past so we can see the present more clearly.

'A deeply imaginative, beautifully written, individual and original book' ––Robert Manne

'McKenna moves masterfully between past and present, opening up the Australian experience for our contemplation and inquiry.' ––Tom Griffiths